Misread Signals
by Sharlmalfoy
Summary: How could she misundertand all the signals? Did she imagined it all? How could she ever trust her instincts again? Luckly there was still someone who could make her feel wanted again. Dramione
1. A New Year

_**A/N: Hey guys! I'm back! I promised myself I wouldn't start another multi-chapter because I already have lots to do but the plot bunnies wouldn't leave me alone so I said: "oh what the hell..." :D**_

**_EDIT: Thanks to love-ipod for pointing out some mistakes! All taken care of now :D_**

_**I hope you like it!  
**_

_**Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling. The plot's mine though! :D**_

_**thoughts are in italic  
**_

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**Chapter 1: A new year**

Hermione Granger had been through a lot in her life. A few years ago she had discovered she was a witch and with that discovery the doors of a whole new world opened before her. However that was not the only challenge she was forced to face. It seemed that with the start of every school year, a lethal menace put at risk not only her life but the lives of everyone she loved. This menace was, of course Lord Voldemort.

With the help and support of her friends, she had managed to survive throughout six years at Hogwarts and finally, last year, with the common effort and courage of the Order of the Phoenix, Lord Voldemort had been defeated. Many lives had been lost in the process and even if it wouldn't be the same as before, life must go on.

The war had changed people. Many Deatheaters, watching the Dark Lord's power weaken turned on him and helped the Order. When all was over, they were free to go unpunished, although they did lose some of the power and respect they had. That is how families like the Malfoys, Zabinis, Goyles and Notts, although keeping their high position in their jobs, were left to regain the trust of the magical society.

The prejudices about muggleborns were not completely eradicated but were diminished to the point that former "mudblood-haters" and muggleborns could socialize courteously and in some cases, even form bonds of friendship.

For Hermione, the new year ahead promised the normal, clam and even boring school experience she had been denied over the years. And for that she was grateful. She couldn't imagine another year of worrying about her loved ones and fighting against their enemies. She dreamed of afternoons spent doing homework with her friends in the warmness of the Gryffindor common room or amongst old, heavy books in the library.

That's why, as she got into the Heads compartment in the train she couldn't help but smile at the prospect of the year to come. She felt like a first year experiencing everything for the first time.

Nothing could dampen her mood. She sat quietly in her compartment and pulled out a heavy book from her bag, settling it on her lap to read while her friends arrived. She had come early as usual and there were only a couple of students she didn't know, probably first years, waiting outside the train with their trunks, looking excited but terrified at the same time.

After about fifteen minutes she decided to go out and look for her two best friends. She opened the door, looking out the hall to see familiar faces rushing in and out of compartments with their heavy trunks. She waived to a couple of them and struggled her way out.

A mass of students and their families conglomerated outside the train. How different was this scene from the one a year before, when people were so scared of separating their families, that they wouldn't allow their children to go to Hogwarts. Hermione sighed at the thought, remembering the almost empty halls of the school.

"Hermione!" She turned her head around at the sound of her name. She could recognize those voices anywhere.

"Harry! Ron!" She hurried towards her two best friends, embracing them in a tight hug, "Good to be back, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I can't wait to get there. I've missed the Hogwarts meals!" Harry and Hermione laughed at their always hungry friend and headed back inside the train. They found Ginny and Luna in a compartment in the front of the train, near Hermione's and sat with them.

"Is too bad you can't sit with us in the train, Mione," said Harry, playing lazily with a golden snitch, just like his father used to.

"Yeah, I know. Head duties," She shrugged not really minding. She had a full year ahead to be with her friends. No evils threatening them.

"A year back you would be throwing a fit over having to spend the train ride with Draco Malfoy. Merlin forbid sharing a common with him!" commented Ginny dramatically, stealing Harry's snitch while he was playing.

To everyone's surprise, Draco Malfoy had been chosen as Head Boy. It wasn't that he didn't have good grades; but after the war many thought Dumbledore would give the job to Harry.

Hermione chuckled imagining the scene she would have made, " Well luckily Malfoy's not the same person he used to be. Since he helped the Order during the war he's been rather... polite. I mean, it's not like we're friends all of a sudden but he doesn't insult me anymore or makes fun of me. I think it will be tolerable having to spend so much time with him."

The others nodded. That is except Ron who was looking at her like she had a hinkypunk dancing on her head. Hermione laughed at his expression, slapping him lightly in the arm.

"Well I still don't trust him," said Ron, stubbornly. He turned to Hermione, pointing her with his finger, sternly, "Mione, you tell me if that ferret face git does something to you and I'll break his face!" He slammed his fist against his other hand, his ears suddenly turning red.

The others laughed at their friend while Hermione blushed and glanced back at Ginny, who winked at her.

A loud whistle sounded, announcing that the train was soon leaving. First years escaped their mothers embrace to sit nervously in the compartments, afraid to be left behind. Others rushed back out to pick up something they'd forgotten. Parents waived at their children from the outside, yelling recommendations and warnings. The last trunks and cages were loaded.

Hermione stood up from her seat, flattening the wrinkles of her gray skirt and opened the door of the compartment. "I have to go now. McGonagall wants to give us the instructions for the train ride before meeting the prefects. See you there Ginny?"

"Yeah, see you there!" beamed the redhead, jokingly pointing at the badge on her chest.

Hermione laughed, closing the door behind her and headed back to her compartment. She stepped inside to find Draco Malfoy sitting in the far end, looking out the window. His arms were crossed over his chest, his legs stretched before him, crossed at the ankles. His platinum blond hair fell carelessly over his gray eyes. Hermione stood at the door for a second, staring at him. Malfoy could be an arrogant prick, but one of the things he was great at was looking hot. Of course she would rather stick a quill in her eye before admitting it.

Finally Malfoy noticed her presence and she quickly moved from the door, hoping he didn't notice her staring.

"Hello Malfoy" she smiled politely, sitting opposite to him.

"Granger" he nodded. She laughed inwardly. Not the warmest greeting but at least he didn't hex her. She opened her mouth to continue with their small talk when the compartment doors opened and Professor McGonagall entered.

"Ms Granger, Mr Malfoy, good morning and congratulations for being elected Heads."

"Thank you. Professor," both chorused.

"This year, as you both know, you will be sharing a common room on the sixth floor."

Hermione was a little nervous at the though of sharing a room alone with Malfoy, but she wasn't sure why. _It's not like he's going to do something to me. _

"As Heads you are mostly in charge of coordinating the Prefects and helping the Professors organize certain activities. Also you are now allowed to take and give points and asign detentions to the other students. Of course you will be supervised by the teachers and if one of us considers your decisions to be unfair, we can ban them. Other than that you have the same duties as any other Prefect. Remember that you were both chosen for this positions not only due to your good grades but because the professors and the Headmaster have agreed that you both are mature and responsible enough to be entrusted with this assignment."

Hermione couldn't help to be surprised, as she received the letter, at Malfoy being chosen as Head Boy. After everything that had happened most would have never chosen a former almost Deatheater. Then again she knew this was an attempt of their Headmaster to bring not only the different Houses closer but to bring unity after the war. Well that and the fact that Malfoy was the second best student in their class.

"Further instructions will be given as the situation demands it. Now please join me in the Prefects meeting."Without waiting for them McGonagall turned around and hurried to the heads compartment.

They both stood up and Malfoy gestured for Hermione to go out first. _Hmm_ Hermione thought _a_ _gentleman too._

When the train finally arrived at Hogsmeade Hermione was glad to be able to finally stand up. The train ride with Malfoy had been passed in silence, except for a few comments about their new responsibilities. As Heads they were to ride in the first carriages with the Prefects. Hermione reached for her trunk but Malfoy beat her to it, carrying it outside and setting it on an empty carriage along with his.

Hermione raised her eyebrows in surprise but followed him, "Thank you, Malfoy."

"You're welcome," he said plainly and joined Blaise Zabini, who was already seatting in the carriage.

Hermione kept looking at him in disbelief but suddenly was distracted by an arm snaking around hers. She turned to see Ginny raise an eyebrow, "What was _that_?"

Hermione shook her head slightly, turning back to Malfoy once again, "I was just asking myself the same thing," she turned back to Ginny, " He was all polite during the ride and acted like a gentleman. It's so... weird."

"Hmm" replied the redhead thoughtfully, but said all of a sudden, "You are so lucky!"

Hermione frowned, confused by her friend's reaction, "What are you talking about?"

"Malfoy's _HOT_! And you get to share a room with him! I mean, he was a prick before so it wasn't such a big deal but now that he's being nice..." Ginny winked at her insinuatingly.

Hermione laughed, "Yeah right, like something could happen between me and Malfoy..."

"You never know." replied the redhead, half singing.

Hermione looked around, making sure her other two friends weren't anywhere near, "Besides, you know I already like someone."

"Yeah, I know," answered Ginny, patting her hand reassuringly, "I'm just saying you have some serous eye candy!"

"Candy?" asked Ron, appearing next to the two girls all of a sudden, followed by Harry. He looked down at their hands looking for some kind of sweet but hunched disappointed, not finding any. The others laughed at the redhead.

"How was the ride with Malfoy, Hermione?" asked Harry as they headed for the carriages.

"Surprisingly quiet. We barely spoke and when we did he was perfectly civil." Hermione admitted, receiving disbelieving stares from the two guys.

"Well, I guess Malfoy _has_ changed..." Harry said, absentmindedly kicking a little stone.

Ron grunted, "I don't know, I still don't trust him," he slipped an arm around Hermione's shoulder, "Just promise you'll be careful, Mione," he said looking at her directly in the eyes, raising goosebumps on her arms.

"I promise," the brunette answered him, half whispering.

They kept walking like that until they reached Hermione's and Ginny's carriage. Ginny got on first and Ron helped Hermione up, causing her cheeks to flush a little.

Harry turned towards Malfoy and nodded in acknowledgment, "Malfoy"

Draco returned the nod, "Potter. Weasley."

"Malfoy," Ron replied, but with a harsher tone, causing Malfoy to smirk.

_What's with boys and that greeting? Don't they know words like `Hi´ or `Hello´? Is it too hard?_

"Everyone please get on their carriages!" McGonagall's amplified voice said from behind them.

"See you two inside," said Harry as he headed back to his carriage.

"See you!" said Ron, looking only at Hermione.

Ginny nudged Hermione in the ribs, making her blush. "Stop it, Ginny!" she giggled.

The two Slytherin boys in front of them didn't miss their exchange. Zabini turned to Malfoy and rolled his eyes, whispering, "Girls..."

Draco chuckled as the carriage started moving towards the castle.

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_**A/N: Ok, I know there's not much Dramione here but we'll get there, don't worry. Be patient!**_

_**What do you think so far? :D I still haven't really figured out how the dynamic between Draco and Hermione will be... so suggestions are welcomed. Do you want them to go slow? Or become "almost friends" from the beginning?**_

_**Thank you for taking the time for reading this!**_

_**Sharly xx**_


	2. Tension

_**A/N: Hi! Here's chapter 2. **_

_**Hope you like it!**_

_**Again, thoughts are in italic.**_

_**Disclaimer: No, I don't own Harry Potter. Just the plot :D**_

**_Special thanks to Kisses of Chocolate for suggesting the title for this chapter ;)_**

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**Chapter 2: Tension**

As the doors of the Great Hall opened, Hermione could feel the warmness the room radiated. The sky above was cloudless, hundreds of stars shimmering in the distance. The candles hovering above them casted a dim light, causing the room to feel cozy and homey. The four house tables were already packed with students waiting for the feast to begin. In the front, the first years were crammed together nervously, staring apprehensively at the stool placed in front of the Professors table.

Hermione let out a small smile remembering the anxiety she felt as she was a first year awaiting for the house selection. Maybe anxiety isn't the right word. Panic is more like it. She was one of the last to enter, having stayed behind to help the professors lead the other students to their place.

She quickly made her way to her friends in the Gryffindor table and sat down, looking to the front of the room.

As usual the Headmaster stood up to welcome the students with his usual speech. He warned them about the restriction of certain parts of the school territory and wished them a productive school year.

After that Professor McGonagall stood up with a long parchment in her hands and the sorting began. At this point the growls coming from Ron's stomach were too loud for the others to ignore. He was tapping his fingers on the table, impatiently.

Ginny and Hermione laughed at the redhead who turned, narrowing his eyes at them, "What? I'm hungry!"

"Yeah, we noticed Ron." laughed Ginny, laughing harder at her brother's face.

"I don't know why we can't eat before the bloody sorting."

"I don't understand how you can still be hungry. You already had four pumpkin tarts on the train!" commented Harry.

"What? A strong man like me needs food!" replied Ron, squaring his shoulders.

The others snorted as the last first year was sorted in Ravenclaw.

"Finally!" exclaimed Ron, picking up his fork and knife, staring at the table to jump for the food the moment it appeared. Hermione laughed at him, shaking her head.

After diner, they walked up the stairs towards their commons. In the fifth floor Hermione said good night to her friends and headed to her room. She stood in front of the fireplace, contemplating the room. It was a circular room with dark blue walls. A big fireplace was to the right, with a small coffee table in front and two large seats to the sides. To the right of the fireplace one door opened to a large bathroom with a shower in the far end and a vanity. To the left of the fireplace were two doors leading to the bedrooms. As Hermione opened the one to the right, was glad to see that it was in fact her room. Her trunk was already there, as usual.

The room was a dark red color, with two large windows trimmed by heavy dark red velvet curtains.

A large four-poster bed lay in the center of the room, with the same velvet curtains. A large dresser to the left.

Hermione felt exhausted after she was done unpacking her essentials. She glanced at the clock and was surprised to see that it was already eleven o'clock. She decided to take a warm shower to relax before going to bed. She grabbed a towel and headed for the bathroom. When she was in in the common, she glanced towards Draco's door, which was still closed, wondering where he was. She shrugged it off and took her shower. She washed her hair with her scented shampoo and stood under the hot water, the pressure of the drops massaging her back and face.

She put on her white silk nightdress and stepped out of the bathroom. She let out a little shriek, startled to see Malfoy sitting in one of the seats in front of the fireplace, reading a book.

He looked up from the book, staring wide-eyed at her, but relaxed as he noticed it was her.

"Malfoy!"

He gave her a little wave as he turn back to his book.

She hurried back to her room to put her things away. When everything was put away she stood awkwardly in the middle of her room, fidgeting with her fingers, not knowing what to do. Should she go out there and try to make small talk? Or should she just pretend like he wasn't there at all? What did he want her to do?

She decided to grab a book too and sit in the seat at the other side of the fireplace. As she walked back in the room and sat down, he didn't look up.

Hermione opened her copy of Important Modern Magical Discoveries, glancing towards Malfoy. He was still wearing his school uniform but his shirt wasn't tucked and his tie was loosened. His hair was falling over his eyes; the platinum blond bangs glinting with the fire light. Ginny was right, he was some _serious_ eye candy.

"Any particular reason you're staring at me like that, Granger?" he said, not tearing his eyes fro the book.

"I- uh... um...nope." Hermione answered, embarrassed to be caught staring. She turned back to her book but still couldn't concentrate. She shifted in her chair and turned to look back at him, placing her book on the coffee table. "Actually, there is."

The blond lifted his head to look at her, his eyebrows raised in surprise, a smirk appearing on his lips.

"I was wondering how this was going to work?" she continued.

"This?"

"Our being Heads together and having to share a common."

Draco stared at her, a confused look on his face, "What do you mean?"

Hermione suppressed the need to roll her eyes and explained, "Well, since we're going to be spending so much time together during rounds, meetings and sharing the same common, I think we need to work on how we treat each other."

Se stared at him, biting her lower lip nervously. She was waiting for him to start making fun of her but to her surprise Malfoy put his book down and sat straight, looking intently at her. "What did you have in mind, Granger?"

"Um...well it's quite simple, really. We just need to be... nice, to each other."She gave him a weak smile. _He's going to bite my head off._

Malfoy chuckled, again raising his eyebrow, incredulous, "You pretend us to be friends?"

"We don't have to be friends if you don't want to. We just... I don't know, I just don't want to spend every day of my last year at Hogwarts fighting with you. It would be great if we could at least stop insulting each other and snapping at whatever the other says." She let out an exasperated sigh, suddenly agitated.

Malfoy seemed to be pondering over it.

_I guess it can't be that bad. Mother did tell me to try and win their trust. What better way to start than try to be nice to the trusting bookworm. She'd spread the rumor. Anyway, she's better than the Weasel or Merlin forbid Longbottom. At least she's easy on the eye... _Her ran his eyes down her body, her curves enhanced by the soft silk of her nightdress. She had grown over the summer, in all the right places. She was slim and had the best legs Draco had ever seen. There was a reason why practically all the guys in the school were lusting after her. _Yes, definitely easy on the eyes._

"Fine," he answered curtly.

"Really?" Hermione answered, shocked. She never thought he would say yes. She thought he was going to be the same arrogant prick as usual but with time they would get used to each other. Never from day one.

"Yes really, Granger," he answered, picking his book again. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to continue my reading."

"Yes, of course." she replied quickly, getting up from her seat. She flattened the wrinkles of her nightdress, looking about the room awkwardly. "I'm going to bed now."

"Ok," answered Malfoy, not seeming interested in her.

"Goodnight, Malfoy," she said as she headed back to her room.

"Goodnight, Granger," he looked up at her as she was entering her room. He couldn't help but stare at her ass, smirking.

···

The next morning, Hermione woke up early as usual. She took her towel to the bathroom and decided to leave her clothes in her room so she wouldn't delay Malfoy by keeping the bathroom to herself. She took a quick shower and wrapped a towel around herself to get out. As she was crossing the common, Malfoy's door opened and he stepped out of his room only wearing black silk boxers and a towel around his neck. He was walking lazily, scratching the back of his head but stopped at her sight. All of a sudden he was fully awake.

Her breath caught in her throat. She thought he looked great with his school uniform, but he looked much better without it. She couldn't help but stare at the pale skin of his chest; her eyes wandering over his washboard chest.

Luckily he was too busy to notice. He stared at the towel but his eyes quickly moved to the uncovered skin, still glistening with water droplets. Her cheeks were flushed by the heat of the water but turned a deeper shade of red under his gaze.

He cleared his throat loudly, and looking directly into her eyes said, "Good morning, Granger,"

Hermione gulped but managed to answer quickly, "Morning, Malfoy."

Without another word he walked into the bathroom, leaving a dazed Hermione standing alone in the common. She made her way back to her room and got dressed as fast as she could to avoid meeting Malfoy when he got out of the bathroom. She noticed he wasn't carrying his clothes either and she wasn't going to risk another another encounter with a half-naked Malfoy, a _wet_ half-naked Malfoy. Shivers ran down her spine at the thought.

She grabbed her bag and hurriedly got out of the common. Once outside, she walked down the stairs to the Great Hall to meet her friends for breakfast.

It was much too early for Ron and Harry to be up yet, but Ginny was already sitting on the Gryffindor table, reading the Prophet.

Hermione sat down beside the redhead and grabbed a toast from the plate in front of her. Ginny turned to look at her, putting away the Prophet.

"Hey Mione!"

"Morning Ginny!"

"So? Tell me, I want to hear everything!" said Ginny excitedly.

Hermione frowned, confused, "About what?"

Ginny sighed loudly, turning her body so that she was now fully facing her friend, "How did it go on your first night with Malfoy?"

"Oh, that!" Ginny nodded, smiling expectantly, "Well, you were right about the eye candy." Hermione laughed at Ginny's wide-eyed expression.

Hermione told her friend everything that had happened, including that morning's incident.

The girls were still giggling as Harry and Ron arrived.

"What's going on?" asked Ron as he sat next to Hermione, smiling brightly at her.

Harry sat opposite to him, eyeing the girls suspiciously as they glanced at each other, before Ginny answered, "Nothing, just girl stuff."

"Ok," answered Ron, stacking his plate with sausages and eggs.

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_**A/N: So what do you think?? :D **_

_**Thanks to: Verinova, Dramione-Fan 17, Hermione'sBFF454, love-ipod, oola and Kisses of Chocolate for reviewing!**_

_**I'd appreciate suggestions for the title of this chapter. I couldn't come up with anything good :P**_

_**Oh, if any of you guys would want me to read your Dramione, don't be afraid to ask :) I'd love to read some of your work. and I always review ;) *coughcough***_

_**Thanks for reading!**_


	3. Finding out

_**A/N: Hello everyone! I know the first two chapters were a bit boring but I promise it only gets better from here. Before I only had a vague idea of where I was going to go with the fic but yesterday I managed to finish my outline for the fic (Go me!) so everything's clear now :D After that I was so excited that I started with the chapter and well... here it is! Still if you have suggestions or somehing, I'd love to hear them :D**_

_**Also, I had to change the rating to M because I think later on some parties are going to get wild *grins mischievously* and it might get steamier towards the end so...yep.**_

**_Thanks to Kisses of Chocolate for suggesting a name for this chapter :D_**

_**Ok, I'll shut up now and leave you to read.**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, JK does **_

_**Hope you like it!**_

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**Chapter 3: Finding out**

**.**

Hermione sat in the library early on Monday morning. After a week in school she had gotten used to doing this every day. She would get up earlier than she usually did, get ready and head for the library to do her homework or study.

Normally she would do this in the common room but for some reason she didn't feel comfortable around Malfoy. It's not like he was being rude or unpleasant; quite the contrary, actually. He had stuck to their... agreement. He was being civil, a bit cold but civil none the less. Still, Hermione felt tense whenever he was around and she couldn't concentrate on whatever she was doing. So, she had decided to do her schoolwork in her comfort zone, the library.

When it was finally time for breakfast, she gathered her stuff and headed downstairs. On her way there she met up with Harry and Ron.

"Mione!" exclaimed Ron as he ran up to her, a bright smile on his face.

Hermione smiled back at him, feeling a bit self-conscious, "Hey Ron! Hey Harry!" she turned to the other boy who walked lazily behind the redhead.

"Morning Hermione," he said, rubbing his eyes behind his glasses.

"Didn't sleep well?" she asked Harry as they entered the Great Hall and took their usual seat in the middle of the table. As soon as the sat, Ron started stacking food on his plate.

"Not enough sleep is more like it. I stood up all night doing the stupid Potions essay." he answered as he poured some milk on his cereal. He really did look terrible; he had black circles under his eyes and his hair looked messier than usual.

Hermione was about to lecture him on how he should have done it last week, when the essay was assigned but was interrupted by Parvati Patil, who sat next to them with her eyes wide in excitement.

"Did you hear? Isn't it great?" she said looking from once face to the other, looking for a reaction.

The others exchanged confused gazes. Well, Ron and Hermione did. Harry was just trying to stay awake.

"Well, obviously you didn't," sighed the dark-skinned girl in frustration, but the enthusiasm returned to her face as she explained, "There's going to be a ball to celebrate the return to school after the war."

"A ball?" Hermione found it strange that she hadn't heard about this before. Balls and dances were supposed to be organized by the Heads with the help of the prefects and professors, "Are you sure?"

"Of course!" answered Parvati a little offended. As a professional gossiper her information was never questioned, "It was posted on the notice board of the Gryffindor common room," She looked at Harry, who was leaning on the table with his elbow for support, "Harry, you look dreadful!" With that she jumped from her seat to meet Lavander Brown and they stared chattering excitedly about dress robes for the ball.

"Oh great!" muttered Harry, sarcastically, "I have to get a date again! That's just great!" he slouched in his seat, loudly dropping his spoon on his plate.

"Don't worry mate, I'm sure this time will be better than the Yule Ball," Ron said, glancing at Hermione who was covering her mouth, trying no to laugh at her Harry.

Harry grumbled a unintelligible response before finally giving up and letting his head fall on the table with a loud thump.

- · -

On the other side of the room, Draco Malfoy sat next to his friend Blaise Zabini discussing new plays for the Slytherin quidditch team as he felt a small arm snake around his.

"Hey Drakie-poo!" he heard Pansy whisper in his ear. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek before sitting down next to him.

"Hey," he answered, not even looking at her. He was too busy punching Blaise in the arm, who was still laughing at Pansy's nickname for Draco.

The girl didn't notice this and continued clinging from Draco's arm, "I was thinking that you should wear dark-green dress robes to match mine."

This caught his attention. He turned to look at her, his brow furrowed, "What are you talking about, Pansy?"

She let out a childish giggle, "For the ball, silly," she slapped his arm playfully.

"Yeah, silly! For the ball!" Blaise mimicked Pansy's voice as he batted his lashes at Draco.

The blond narrowed his eyes a him before turning back to look at Pansy, "Again, what are you talking about?"

She opened her eyes wide and placed her hand on her chest dramatically, "Oh you didn't know? There's going to be a ball to celebrate our return to Hogwarts," she gasped and jumped from the table, "That reminds me, I have to owl my personal dresser to sort out the details of my dress!" and with that she hurried out of the Great Hall.

"Did you know about this?" asked Draco, turning to his Italian friend.

"Yeah, it was posted on the notice board."

"That's strange. The Heads are supposed to be in charge of organizing these things and I didn't even know about it."

Zabini shrugged ad he grabbed a red apple from the big plate on the table. He rubbed it against his robes and took a big bite, "So, are you taking Parkinson?"

Theo Nott joined them, taking a seat in front of them. They nodded their heads as a greeting and Draco answered unenthusiastically, "Probably..."

"It's not that bad, at least she's easy," grinned Theo.

"Yeah, we all know that," said Blaise, knocking his fist against Theo's, "If you could go with anybody, everything aside, who wold you choose?" Blaise asked the other two. He always loved to ask that kind of questions.

"Hmm..." Theo looked about the room, contemplating his options, "If I could go with anybody..." his eyes lit up and he stood straight as he return his gaze to his friend, "Well, I've always thought Granger has a lot of potential."

Blaise turned around in his seat to stare at the brunette, a mischievous smile spreading on his lips, "You read my mind, my dear friend, you read my mind. What's your verdict, Draco?"

Malfoy flinched at the sound of his name, being pulled back from his thoughts. He couldn't help but remember the day he saw her leaving the bathroom with only a tiny towel wrapped around her petite body. Ok, so the towel wasn't that tiny, it was actually normal size, but can't a man fantasize?

His verdict? Of course Granger had potential. More than just potential. She was gorgeous, sexy as hell, smart, ni – _HEY! HEY!HEY! What the bloody hell is going on? I can't think that way about Granger! It's just...wrong. I need to stop this, right now! Damn that girl for being nice to him during the war. If she would have just left him alone and mind her own business none of this would be happening._

You see, when Draco and his family had decided to help the Order, they were told to stay at Headquarters for their own safety. Moody, Tonks, Lupin, Potter, Granger and the Weasleys were staying there also. Of course, when they arrived they weren't exactly welcomed. The hostility could be practically smelled. So when Draco's parents had to go out on missions, he would stay in his room all day, not wanting to spend time with the others. He was there for safety, not to make friends. One day, he was again alone in his room when there was a soft knock on his door. He opened the door carefully, wand in hand, and was surprised to find Granger staring up at him, a hint of a nervous smile on her lips. She said she was there to talk and he let her in out of mere curiosity. At first it was awkward, of course. He would try, with a lot of effort, not to insult her as much, but it was hard for him; he was, after all on her side now. Whenever his parents weren't around she would come and keep him company for a few minutes. She wouldn't stay long and they wouldn't really talk much but at least he wasn't alone all day.

When his family was finally able to go back home, he decided to pretend like those afternoons with her never happened and go back to hating her. The truth was he didn't hate her anymore but that's just ow things were, right? He was Draco Malfoy and he was supposed to hate Hermione Granger.

Of course, when the girl had come to him on the first night back in school to call a truce, his plan was ruined.

"Do you think he's having a panic attack or something?" Theo asked, eyeing his friend with concern.

Zabini shrugged, still staring at the blond, "Draco, mate are you alright?"

"What?" Draco realized he still hadn't answered. He hadn't told any of his friends bout his little... whatever-they-were with Granger, "Oh yeah, Granger...mm...I don't know. I mean she has the right body and everything but other than that, she's just a boring, prudish bookworm," he commented, trying to seem uninterested.

"I still think there is feisty beast hiding behind those books," Nott snickered, glancing back at Hermione again.

Blaise turned his attention back to his apple, "Anyway, it's not like we stand a chance. Draco's right, she's not like the others. She might even still be a virgin."

"What a waste..." mumbled Theo. Draco suppressed the growl building up in his chest and immediately scolded himself for his reaction. _Again, what the bloody hell is wrong with me??_

Blaise continued, ignoring Theo's comment, "And Weasley and Potter as her personal bodyguards only make it more difficult. I'm telling you, she's like unreachable."

"Who would you choose, Blaise?" Theo said, changing the subject.

Zabini grinned, the girl already on hi mind, "I'd go for the Weaselette."

"What?!" Draco asked, bursting out, laughing.

"What? You can't tell me she's not fit." Zabini was a little offended by his friend's laughter.

"Yeah, I guess she has a little something-something going on," conceded Theo, only managing to make Draco laugh even harder. So much he almost fell from his seat. No seriously, he was drawing stares now.

Blaise turned to look at the redhead who just walked through the doors of the Great Hall,"I think she's fiery! Rawr!"

And with that Draco hit the floor.

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_**A/N: What do you think?? A little bit shorter but I think this is the best one yet. I actually had a lot of fun writing it. We got a little more of Draco's POV in this one. **_

_**Do you think the explanation-almost-flashback back there was confusing? With it being in the middle and everything?**_

_**Thanks to Verinova, Hermione'sBFF454, Dramione-Fan 17, Kisses of Chocolate and Chasing for reviewing. You make my day!**_

_**And also to all of you who added the story to your alert,. I really appreciate it!**_

_**I've decided that I'll let you guys give the names to the chapters :) And no, it's not because I'm lazy or lack imagination *shifts awkwardly in her seat* It's because I think it's interesting to know how you guys interpret the chapter :D (Don't you hate it when teachers use that kind of crap in school?) **__**Anywhoo, any suggestions for this one xD??**_

_**Thanks so much for reading! ;D**_


	4. The Only One Who Can Help

_**A/N: Hey guys! I'm sorry for taking this long to update but this has been one sucky week and I didn't have time to write (or read :S). But anyway, I finally could finish this one and made it a little bit longer for all the great reviewers :D**_

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, JK does!_**

**_And thanks to xXdarkdemonic-uchihaXx for suggesting the name of the title xD Thank youuuu x_**

_**Hope you like it!**_

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**Chapter 4: The Only One Who Can Help**

After breakfast, the three Slytherins walked slowly back to the dungeons for Potions. Blaise and Theo kept commenting about all the other girls in school and their assets. In the meanwhile Draco just followed them mindlessly, very much unlike him.

He just kept thinking about her, but not in a hormone-ridden-teenager kind of way. He was just wondering what made her come to his room that day. The obvious reason for him was pity but that was impossible. Nobody had ever pitied him; mostly because he pretended like there was nothing to pity.

Of course all that had changed during the war. He and his family had been defeated and she was there to watch him fall. Still, after everything that he had put her through all those years at school there was no way she could pity him or feel anything about him other than dislike, maybe even hate.

He entered the half full Potions class and sat in the back with Theo. Blaise sat in front of them, but as soon as he put his bag on the floor, he turned around to resume his fascinating conversation with Zabini. Draco however was still pondering over a certain brunette that in that precise moment walked through the door and sat a couple of seats from the front row.

Her entrance did not help Draco escape from his thoughts. He realized that he was wrong. Feelings could change dramatically, like his had. During the summer he realized that he didn't hate Hermione or her kind, not really. It was just that he never had a choice but hate them; he was raised to feel that way. After the Dark Lord was gone and he didn't feel have that pressure on his shoulders, he realized that the hate was gone, too. In tat moment he realized just how much power Voldemort had over him.

When he got back to school he wasn't insulting muggleborns anymore. But not because he was scared or was trying to redeem himself, he just didn't fell the need to anymore. Maybe Hermione was the only one who realized this, who realized that, that part of him was gone.

As much as he wanted to believe this, he couldn't; not completely at least. Forgiveness wasn't something he had come across often in his life.

A loud thud managed to finally rip him away from his thoughts. All of the students glanced back at the door only to see professor Snape walk through the classroom, heading for his desk in the front.

"Silence!" with a flick of his wand, a list of ingredients appeared on the blackboard, "Today you will be preparing the Confusing Concoction in pairs. I've already assigned the pairs so don't get any ideas. Parkinson with Weasley, Goyle with Finnigan, Crabbe and Thomas, Malfoy with Potter, Nott with Granger...A murmur of complaints could be heard as the students walked around the room to seat with their partners.

Draco didn't move from his seat but waited for Harry to seat to his left. On his right, Theo rose from his seat and pulled back the chair to his right for Hermione to seat. Hermione looked at him with a baffled look in her eyes but sat. Theo turned to look at Malfoy and winked.

_What the hell is he doing? The whole conversation in the Great Hall was hypothetical, right? He isn't going to ask her to the ball? He can't!_

"Go look for the ingredients, Potter," Draco spat at Harry as Hermione headed for the front of the room . Harry glared at him but stood up none the less, following Hermione, "What are you doing, Nott?"

"What do you mean?" he answered, but from the smile on his lips he knew perfectly well what Draco was talking about.

"You know what I'm talking about. What was that with Granger?" he looked around, checking that their partners were nowhere near them yet, "Are you seriously going to ask her to the ball?"

"No, there's no way she would say yes. I'm just clearing the field for future opportunities."

At that moment Hermione and Harry returned with all the ingredients they needed. Draco saw Theo beam at her before he turned back to Potter.

Draco and Harry worked in silence, not only because they didn't have much to talk about but because Draco was trying to hear what Theo was telling Hermione.

"... What I'm trying to say is that I'm really sorry for everything that I've said to you over the years."

At this both Harry and Draco snapped their heads up to look at them. Hermione was seating up straight, watching Theo wide-eyed. She opened her mouth to say something but closed it again, frowning, "Um... I...Apology accepted."

Nott grinned at her, turning back to slicing the Valerian root on the table. It took the other three a moment to concentrate back on their potion.

When the class was finally over Hermione gathered her things, awkwardly said good bye to an uncommonly friendly Theo Nott and meet her friends who were waiting for her at the door.

"Hey guys!" she smiled cheerfully.

"What was that with Nott, Hermione?" asked Harry as they walked out to the greenhouses for their Herbology class with the Ravenclaws.

"Well he just apologized for how he's always treated me; he said that everything that has happened made him realize how unfair and cruel he had been to me."

"Huh..." Harry said, thinking.

Hermione turned to look at him, confused, "What?"

"Well, I just think it's weird. I mean, after all these years of him insulting you and being mean to you, it's weird to watch him be nice."

"Yeah, I know. But even though Theo is the first one to apologize, all of the Slytherins have actually stopped insulting me every chance they get; and I'm not about to object."

"I think they should all line up to apologize to you, Mione. They are all gits and you are one of the nicest people around here." Ron said, looking into her eyes, affectionately.

"Thanks, Ron," Hermione blushed at the redhead's comment and quickly tried to hide it, entering the greenhouse first, looking to the floor.

At lunch time Hermione walked in the Great Hall alone. Harry and Ron had decided to stay in the common room to write an essay they had to finish for the next class. Typical... She walked to the Gryffindor table and sat next to Ginny, who was already there, sitting alone too.

"Hey Gin!"

"Hey Mione! How's your day so far?"

"It has been...weird." Hermione admitted, a small chuckle escaping her lips.

Ginny looked up from her food, interested. Her day had been everything but excited. "What happened?"

"Well, let's just say Malfoy isn't the only one acting strange."

Ginny readjusted herself in her seat as a smile spread on her lips. She was now in gossip mode, "Details please!"

Hermione's smile widened as she too turned in her seat to face her friend, "Today, in Potions class I got paired up with Theo Nott..."

"Ooh, lucky! He's hot," She said, half whispering the last part.

Hermione laughed at her friend. To Ginny, half the guys in the school were hot; not that she was wrong this time.

"And he was acting so weird. First he was making conversation and being nice.; and then he started saying how sorry he was for everything that he'd said to me over the years and asked me to forgive him."

Ginny was gaping, one eyebrow raised, "And? What did you say?"

"I told him I forgave him, of course."

"Yeah..." replied the redhead, lost in her thoughts. After a couple of seconds she seemed to come back to reality and looked back at Hermione, "Wow!"

"I know," Hermione nodded.

"Speaking of unusually weird Slytherins, someone's staring at you," Ginny whispered at her, glancing from the Slytherin table back to her food, a grin spreading on her lips.

Hermione snapped her head up, looking at the Slytherin table and caught Malfoy's eyes shamelessly staring at her. She felt warmness creeping up her face under his gaze and quickly looked down to her food like her friend.

After a moment she slowly lifted her head and looked towards him, only to be met again by his silver eyes boring into hers. The only difference was the smug smirk that his lips formed.

Hermione huffed annoyed as she picked up her fork and started playing with her food.

She heard Ginny giggle next to her, "Caught you staring back?"

"Yeah," Hermione admitted, sounding defeated.

"Just pretend I'm distracting you with something else."

Hermione turned to look at her friend with her brow furrowed in puzzlement, "How am I supposed to do that?"

Ginny sighed, "Just don't glance back at him again, okay?" Hermione simply nodded.

They ate in silence for a couple of minutes until Ginny smacked her forehead with her hand, "I almost forgot to ask you!"

Hermione laughed at Ginny's expression, "Ask me what?"

"Well, the other girls and I were thinking of doing a sort of girl's night this weekend. You know, stay in, do our nails, hear some music, gossip, talk about boys..." Ginny's face lit up at the last, "Anyway, we where thinking that maybe we could do it sleepover style in you room. I mean, it's easier to keep Malfoy out than empty the entire Gryffindor common."

"Well I think it's a great idea but I'll have to ask Malfoy, I can't just lock him in his room."

"Yeah, I know, I wasn't actually going to lock him up in his room!" The redhead laughed, "Not without me inside, anyway."

....

-- Same time, Slytherin table --

Draco had spent whole day thinking about Hermione, and then about himself. He thought about how he had never met anyone like Hermione in his whole life. But he didn't mean this in corny sort of way. He was just amazed at how open and approachable she was. She was free of prejudices.

All his life, the people around him selected only the people who were "good enough"to talk to or be around them.

And he decided that he didn't need this in his life, now that he was making a fresh start or rather that he _wanted_ to make a fresh start.

He stared at her as she talked and laughed with the Weasley girl. Suddenly she looked up and stared directly into his eyes. He was surprised that instead of the usual glare he was accustomed to, she quickly looked away, blushing.

He couldn't help but smirk at the effect he had on her. Even if he had been awful to her, he could see he affected her the same way he affected all the other girls with his looks.

But that was not going to be the point of his approach. He just needed her to make everyone stop thinking bout him as the son of a Deatheater and a follower of the Dark Lord. He didn't know how they were going to accomplish that but if anyone could do it it was her.

After spending the afternoon in the library studying, Hermione returned to the Heads common feeling exhausted. It was already past midnight and she was dragging her feet across the common when she noticed Malfoy was seating in his desk, focused on the piece of parchment in front of him.

He must have felt her eyes upon him, because he looked up an once again caught her eyes. She saw something new flick in his eyes as he looked at her but she couldn't name what it was.

"Hello," he simply said.

She hesitated. She hated how he managed to make her feel so nervous, "Hi,"

He seemed to wait for her to say something else but realizing she wasn't going to, he turned his attention back to the parchment.

She sighed, relieved to have his eyes off her and headed again to her room.

Once there she dropped her book bag next to her desk and changed her clothes for her gray pajama sweats and a white t-shirt.

Hermione walked back out to the common room and stood in front of the fireplace, looking at him, "Um, Malfoy?"

He looked up at her, she noticed by the look in his eyes that he was _surprised_ that she talked to him. Surprised, not annoyed. "Yes?"

"I need to ask you for a favor..."

His eyebrows shot up at her words. _What could she possibly want? _"Really?" He adjusted himself in his seat, now playing more attention to her, "Well, go on." He waved his hand at her, motioning her to continue.

"I was planning on having some friends stay over in the weekend and I was wondering if you could..."

"Get off your back for a couple of days." He finished the sentence for her and she nodded.

He pretended to think it over for a while but the truth was he didn't really care. He was probably going to spend the day with his friends elsewhere and only come back to stay the night. He had to admit he felt a little disappointed she had nothing better to ask of him.

"I guess I could stay in my old room in the Slytherin's dorm." He stated, faking a hint of annoyance in his tone.

Hermione was surprised that he actually agreed. She thought he was going to say no just to annoy her and start a fight between them, "Thanks," She simply said as she turned her back to him and headed to her room.

Draco didn't want her to go yet. He wanted her to start helping him but he didn't know how to. The only thing he could think of was just talking to her, for now at least.

"Did you hear about the ball?" It was the only thing he could think of.

She turned around to face him and he noticed she was actually interested in the matter, "Yes, I just found out. Did you know about it?"

He pretended to be equally interested, although actually he couldn't care less, "No, I found out today, too. I thought it was odd that the professors hadn't said anything to us."

"I know, me too. We're supposed to be in charge of this things." She stood there in front of him, her brow furrowed as she looked at the lit fireplace. He still couldn't believe she was actually concerned about this.

"What do you want to do about it?" His question was genuine this time.

"Well, I guess I could talk to Professor McGonagall tomorrow about this and I'll let you know what she said." She said, still staring at the fire, but turned to look at him, searching for a reaction.

"Sounds good," _Sounds good? What kind of lame answer is that?_ Draco thought.

"Okay," Hermione nodded, feeling the awkwardness filling the room again, "I'm going to bed, I'm really tired." She started walking towards her bedroom again, but turned her head to him at his words.

"Good night,"

Since when did Draco Malfoy wished her good night unless she said it first and he was forced to answer? "Good night, Malfoy."

* * *

_**A/N: Just to set the record straight: No, Draco has not fallen in love with her yet. He just thinks she could help him become... I guess you could say nicer but not really because he doesn't want to lose his bad boy image. He just wants it to be that, an image. **_

_**If you don't get it PM me and I'll try to explain, I'm having a hard time doing it right now, I'm really tired.**_

_**Special thanks to xXdarkdemonic-uchihaXx, RONIinthebreakdown, Jay, Dramione-Fan 17, zcubed, Verinova, Mrs. Black31795, Rachel, Cee M, Kisses of Chocolate, Chasing and Hermione'sBFF454 for reviewing. You guys are the best! xD**_

_**Also thanks to all of you added the story to favorites, alerts and specially all the people who suggested a title for the last chapter. I'm sorry if I didn't pick yours, Please don't get mad at me!*smiles apologetically***_

_**Don't forget to suggest more for this one! Oh, and let me know what you thought about this chappie :D**_


	5. The Sleepover and the Silk Boxers

_**A/N: Hey guys! I'm so sorry for taking this long to update. Believe me I'd rather stay hom and write than go to school but my mother won't let me :(**_

_**Here's the new chapter! The longest I've ever wittten I think :D I gift to you for the waiting**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, JK does!**_

_**I hope you like it!**_

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Chapter 5

Hermione woke up a little later than usual on that Saturday. She had been studying till 2a.m. the night before and she was exhausted. Of course late for Hermione was still very early for everyone else. As she headed down towards the Great Hall for breakfast, the halls were empty and the air was still cool, the tiles ice-cold underneath her feet. She loved walking the halls this early in the morning; she found it relaxing.

She entered the Great Hall to found only a few Hufflepuffs sitting on their table. She sat quietly in her usual spot and poured herself some orange juice as a small, brown owl dropped the Daily Prophet in front of her. She spread the paper in front of her on the table, immersing herself in it.

When she was done with the it, she looked up from the last page to find that the Great Hall was already full. Next to her Ginny, Harry, Ron and Seamus were chatting animatedly about the new broom that was out on the market. _At least I didn't miss anything important._

She neatly folded the paper in half and turned to smile at her friends.

"Well good morning, Hermione! I'm so glad you could join us!" Sitting next to her, Ron grinned as he saw her finally tear her eyes from the page.

"Good morning, Ronald," she said, the flush on her cheeks barely noticeable.

"What are you planning for today 'Mione?" Harry asked.

Ginny jumped up at his question, excitedly, "We are having a girls night in the Heads common!"

Seamus clung from Harry's arm, batting his lashes and said in a girlish high-pitched voice, "We're going to do our nails and talk boys!"

The other boys laughed at Seamus' joke but stopped as they noticed Ginny's death glare.

"Anyway _Hermione_," she said, dramatically turning her back to the boys, "I have everything we need up in my bedroom," she leaned in closer to whisper in her ear, "I even managed to smuggle a couple of bottles of Firewhiskey Fred and George sent me," she winked her eye as she straightened back up. Hermione wasn't so thrilled about the idea of having alcohol in the common room.

After all she was the Head girl and was supposed to punish this kind of illegal activities, not have them in her own room. She knew Malfoy kept illegal substances stashed in his room but that was his problem, not hers.

Finally she thought that she was supposed to make the most out of her last year in Hogwarts after all and that included this sort of experiences.

--At the Slytherin table –

Draco had woken up quite late that day and felt groggy from so much sleep. He dropped in his seat next to Zabini and grabbed a pumpkin muffin from the tray, nibbling at it.

Blaise looked at him and chuckled at his friend's aspect, "Hey Drake, looking good!"

"Funny, Zabini! I couldn't sleep well last night,"

"Pansy?" grinned Blaise.

"No, it was nothing like that. I just couldn't sleep."

Blaise's grin dropped, "Oh, how boring."

This made Draco chuckle but he didn't comment. He was sure Zabini's night had been much more interesting but didn't want to know any details.  
"So what do you have planned for today?"

"I was actually planning on spending the day with you guys and then stay at the Slytherin common."

Blaise's brow furrowed, "Why? What's wrong with your room?"

"Granger's having some Gryffindor friends over for some sort of sleepover. Believe me, I don't want to get caught up in the middle of that," he said, he raised his hands as if he was pushing something invisible away.

Now Zabini was intently listening to him, "Why not? She'll probably invite the Weaselette," his eyes opened wide as an idea popped in his head, "Picture a pillow fight in the middle of your common!"

Draco laughed at his friend as he picked up a spoon full of cereal, which Zabini managed to knock down as he gripped tightly Draco's arm, "We _need_ to crash that sleepover!"

Draco laughed harder at Blaise's desperation, "No,"

Zabini's face dropped in disappointment, "Why not?"

Draco thought about this for a bit. He couldn't tell Zabini that he had actually agreed to leave Hermione and her friends alone for the weekend. It wasn't something he would usually do. The usual Malfoy would bring his whole Slytherin house mates and lounge in the common room just to piss her off. What was he supposed to say now? _Think Draco, think! _

"Because she threatened to hex me and everyone who interrupts her because of me, and you know Granger has a temperament."

"Yeah, I know, angry Granger can be quite dangerous…" nodded Zabini, turning back to his plate of eggs, obviously trying to come up with a way to crash the sleepover and still survive Hermione's hexes.

_He actually bought that?_ Draco was a little disappointed at his friend but relaxed again, trying not to think about the potential pillow fight in his common room.

...

When it was eight o'clock, Hermione and Ginny had the Heads common room ready for the night. The furniture had been pushed back against the walls to leave room for the large cushions lying on the floor and a soft, green blanket in the middle. A great variety of sweets and snacks was poured in bowls that were sitting on the blanket, along with glasses, two bottles of Firewhiskey and other non-alcoholic beverages. A magically powered sound system was playing music from the corner of the room.

The two girls were standing on the blanket admiring their finished work as they heard a knock on the door. Hermione opened it to find the other three girls standing excitedly before the portrait hole. Parvati, Lavander and Padma were all in their pajamas with a pillow in their hands, grinning at her. Hermione motioned them in with a smile and the girls entered. They all settled in the cushions forming a circle and soon started talking and eating.

A few glasses of Firewhiskey later they were dancing around to the music and laughing so loud it could be heard through the portrait.

Ginny tried to twirl Lavander but she tripped with one of the cushions and fell to the floor giggling, the other girls laughing loudly at her. They all dropped down to the cushions still laughing.

"Oh Merlin!" Hermione gripped her head with both hands, trying to fight the dizziness.

Ginny giggled at the brunette but pushed another glass to her, " Like everything, the only way to get good at drinking is doing it a lot," They others laughed and nodded.

"Who says I want to get good?" Hermione objected but took the glass anyway, taking a sip.

"Believe me, it's better if you are," Lavander said, pouring more firewhiskey in her glass. She raised it to her lips to drink but noticed Hermione was still looking at her expectantly, waiting for her to explain, "Well, I mean, if you get completely drunk now is no big deal because you're with us, we'll take care of you," she smiled kindly to her, "but what if you're in a party or a bar and after a few drinks you're completely wasted, someone could take advantage of you."

"That's true, the whole point of drinking is relaxing and having a good time, not having someone touching you while you're unconscious," Parvati commented from the other side of the room, where she was unsuccessfully trying to change the song that was playing.

"And with the ball coming up..." said Padma, grinning impishly.

"Alcoholic beverages are not aloud in the school, much less in the ball," Hermione said quickly, not being able to hold back the Head girl in herself.

"Since when do we ask permission for stuff like that, Hermione?" asked Lavander, looking at the girl like she should know better.

"Yeah, you're right," granted Hermione with a sigh.

"Talking about the ball..." said Parvati, her eyes bright with interest, "has any of the boys asked you guys yet?

"No, not really; I mean, Dean seems to want to ask me but every time he's about to do it, he opens and closes his mouth without actually saying anything and then he storms off," said Padma, almost dropping her glass as she talked.

Ginny giggled, "Yeah, he isn't really good at that kind of stuff. What about you Lavander?

"I'm still waiting for Michael Corner to make his move. I mean, after what happened at that party in the Hufflepuff common he's bound to do it, right?" she said, sounding a little worried.

"Sure he will, I've seen the way he looks at you," winked Parvati, reassuring her friend, "You Gin?"

"I don't know, I mean, since Seamus and I broke up last year I haven't been with anyone else..."

"What about Harry?"

The redhead paused for a second, thinking and then shrugged, "I don't know. I guess we _are_ really close and have a lot of fun together but it doesn't feel that way. He's more like a brother than anything else."

"A very hot brother," Padma objected, smiling.

"I don't know. I'll just wait and see what happens... What about you Mione?" she asked, winking at her.

Hermione grimaced to herself. She had dreaded the time they would turn to her. This was like torture. The truth is, the only time she had actually had a date for something was for the Yule Ball and only because for some reason Viktor Krum had picked her out of all the girls in the school. She never dated or even went to parties. The only ones she had gone to were the ones that Ginny had made her go to by threatening her with locking away all her books.

"Um... I'm not exactly sure if I'm going... I-I mean, who's going to ask _me_?" she said, letting out a nervous laugh, preparing herself for her friends reaction.

As she had expected, they all stared at her, looking like they hadn't heard a word she said. Finally, Lavander was the first one to speak, "What? What are you talking about Hermione? Have you looked at yourself or is there something wrong with your mirror, or is it with you're eyes? You're _hot!"_

Hermione's face turned even more red than it was before due to her alcohol consume, but she frowned. She had never seen herself as a girl that would draw stares. She knew she was pretty enough but nothing more than that.

Lavander gaped at her reaction, " You cannot tell me you haven't noticed the way half of the boys in school look at you?"

Hermione's looked baffled, "Really?"

Lavander laughed, shaking her head, "That's what happens when you have your head stuck in a book the whole day."

"Besides, I think Ron is seriously interested and you can't tell me you haven't noticed that!" Ginny added.

Hermione smiled, "I guess, I mean I think so and I like him, a lot but, I don't know... I'm not sure if he feels the same way," she looked up at them. She had never actually said that to the others.

"You're being silly, Hermione!" Parvati said as she sat next to her and wrapped her arm around her shoulder, "We've all seen the way he looks at you and treats you. It's so obvious!"

"Yes! He's always so attentive with you and his eyes lit up whenever he sees you," said Padma encouraging.

"And he always notices you before every one else in the room," Ginny said.

Hermione couldn't help the grin that spread on her lips, "Do you guys really think so?" the other girls nodded enthusiastically, also smiling, "I guess I have noticed that kind of stuff but sometimes it seems like he's like that with everyone else, not just with me."

"No Mione, it's not like that. Like I said he always notices you first, like he's always looking or you. And he always wants to seat next to you and looks at you a certain way," Ginny sat in front of her and took Hermione's hands in hers, "I know my brother, I can tell he really likes you!"

"Then why doesn't he do something about it?" Hermione said, her voice a little louder in frustration.

Ginny laughed, "Hermione, you know how thick Ron is!" she said as Lavander refilled Hermione's glass and handed it to her, "Specially when it comes to girls, he's clueless!"

Hermione took a long gulp of her drink; the hot liquid feeling like flames on her throat, making her cough. The other girls giggled as they watched their friend recover.

Hermione was surprised at the openness among them. They had been friends for a long time but she had never actually told them exactly what she was feeling, letting them know about her insecurities. Not because she didn't trust them, she just wasn't used to sharing her emotions with anyone.

In her first years at Hogwarts she had a very close relationship only with Ron and Harry, but of course she couldn't tell them about these sort of things to them. _Imagine just how awkward that would be... _

Later on she became more friends with her dorm mates and Ginny. They were all so much fun and their love lives where always so interesting and full of drama that she was ashamed of hers, which was, well... nonexistent. She blamed this change partly to the firewhiskey...

"Then what am I supposed to do?"

"You should tell him what you feel," said Lavander decidedly.

Hermione's eyes opened wide in panic, "What? Are you crazy? I could never do that! Much less when I'm not sure he feels the same way!"

"You could always just snog him, I think that sends out the message," Ginny laughed as she watched Hermione's eyes practically popped out of her head, "I'm kidding! I know for you that's not an option. Although it does work, for me at least."

Hermione gulped. _Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. _

"Look guys, I can't actually do anything unless I'm sure that he feels the same way. If I do say something and he doesn't then not only will I be completely humiliated but our friendship will be ruined forever.

Lavander narrowed her eyes at her, "Well there's only one thing we can do..."

Hermione looked at her, a wave of fear crawling up her chest, "W-what?"

"We'll have to find out if he feels the same way," she said with an innocent smile.

Hermione almost sighed with relief but she knew she shouldn't let her guard down just yet, "And how are we going to do that?"

Lavander shrugged, "I'll ask him!"

Hermione sat waiting to see if that was all the plan, seriously hoping it wasn't, but frowned as she realized her friend had nothing to add "You can't do that, he'll know I sent you."

"No he won't! This is Ron we're talking about, he's not very bright, is he?" said Ginny, her eyes bright with excitement, "It's perfect! You know Lav can get anything out of anyone," Lavander beamed proudly at this.

"And she can say that she's tired of watching you two deny what is obvious to everyone else. He won't suspect anything of you." Padma added.

Hermione had to admit their plan was sounding good, except for one thing, "What happens if he doesn't like me that way? He'll still know how I feel and the friendship will be totally ruined." She slumped her shoulders; the last thing she wanted to do was lose one of her dearest friends over this.

Ginny squeezed her hand, making her look up, "Hermione, Ron can be a git sometimes but he would never let that happen. I know he wouldn't."

Hermione pondered it for a second and she knew that if it was her, she would never do that to Ron, "I guess you're right."

Lavander looked at her excitedly, "So? Are we doing this?" The other girls stared at Hermione, who was looking from face to face.

She realized she didn't have a choice, "Yes,"

"Yes!" Lavander beamed as the other girls laughed excitedly.

Parvati grabbed the firewhiskey and topped all of their glasses, "A toast! To Hermione's future boyfriend!"

Hermione grimaced but still joined her friends in the toast.

After they all quieted down Parvati, with effort stood up and glanced about the room, "You know I just realized... where is our steamy head boy?" she asked with a smile.

"I asked him to stay out of our way during the sleep over," Hermione answered.

Parvati turned to look at her, pouting and asked with a childish voice, "Why did you do that?"

The other girls laughed and Padma stood up as well, "Do tell us Hermione, what is it like living with the Head of the Snakes?"

"It's alright" shrugged, taking a sip of her drink. She could barely feel the burn in her throat anymore.

"Have you been in his room?" asked Parvati.

Have you seen him naked?" asked Padma.

Hermione laughed at them, "No and god no!"

The girls looked at each other, grinning mischievously looking like evil twins more that anything else and then turned to Hermione. She stopped laughing and setting her glass down, gripped the edge of one of the couches to stand up.

After the wave of dizziness had quieted down and her head wasn't spinning anymore, she noticed the grin had spread to the other girls as well.

"No!" she said decidedly, "we can't do that! Can you imagine what he would do to me if he finds out?!"

"Then we'll make sure he doesn't," grinned Parvati as she headed towards the door to his room, the other girls following. She gripped the doorknob but stopped, turning to look at Hermione who was still standing in the middle of the common room.

Hermione grimaced, knowing that even the most powerful spell she could make wouldn't stop them. She sighed in defeat and joined them. She had to admit she felt a little curious of what his room looked like.

Lavander's grin grew even bigger as the girl approached, and opened the door.

The room was dark, the green velvet drapes were pulled not letting the moon light in. A few pieces of clothing were thrown on the floor and his bed was unmade.

Parvati looked around the room, "Dark... I like it!" she said with a grin.

Lavander stood before his bed and touched the soft, black sheets. Hermione eyed her with an eyebrow raised and Lavander smiled at her, "I can see myself tangled in these sheets," she winked at her and moved on to his closet.

Hermione giggled, following her to his closet. They opened the doors wide to look at its interior. He had obviously put a charm to it so he could put in more clothes. At the bottom his shoes were neatly lined, one after the other.

"Wow," said Ginny, "he only wears brand clothes."

"Of course!" said Hermione, imitating his sneer almost perfectly, "He's a Malfoy. Malfoy's only wear the best."

The other girls laughed. For some reason they were whispering, even if the knew he would be coming any time soon.

Oohh! Look at what we have her!" said Lavander, reaching into one of the drawers of his dresser, pulling out a pair of black silk boxers. She spread them with two fingers and held them high for the others to see. The girls laughed and Parvati reached up and snatched them from her.

"I think we should put this in a more... deserving place!" she hurried out of the room and, with her wand she hung the boxers on top of the fireplace.

The other girls were laughing so hard they dropped on the cushions. Even Hermione was too drunk to care at this point.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Draco was woken up by someone yanking at his arm and calling his name. He groaned as the light hit him directly in the eyes. After a few seconds his mind was clear enough to notice it was Blaise who was calling him.

"Zabini, now many times have I told you NEVER TO WAKE ME UP!!" he yelled at the boy, scaring everybody else out of the dorm.

"Sorry Draco but I think we still have a chance to go over to your room and watch the girls," he said eagerly.

Draco sighed, he knew that his friends needs would drive him anywhere, "I told you Blaise, Granger will kill us if we show up,"

"No, I thought about it. She said not to interrupt her sleepover, right? Technically, her sleepover is already over so, really there's no harm done," he explained with a smile.

Draco stood up, giving up any chance to go back to sleep, "If the party is over, why do you want to go? They're most likely sleeping, the chances of a pillow fight at this moment are very slim."

"We still get to see them in their pajamas! I bet Weaselette sleeps in her knickers," he said with a grin but his eyes opened wide all of a sudden and he added, whispering fascinated, "What if they sleep naked? Draco we _need_ to go!" he yanked at his arm more anxiously now, managing to pull him out of bed.

"Ok ok," he chuckled, "Just let me get dressed!"

"Ok, but hurry!" Blaise left the room to wait for him by the door.

Draco snickered as he pulled his clothes from the day before back on, he had forgotten to bring some clean ones.

The truth was Draco was happy to give in to his friend's request. But not because he wanted to see them naked. He knew it was impossible for them to sleep naked. _At least in a sleepover _he thought with a grin. He was just curious to see what happened.

When he was fully dressed he went downstairs to find Zabini, who was leaning against the door frame. When he spotted the blond, he gestured him to hurry and stepped out of the common room.

Once they were out, Blaise was practically running and Draco couldn't help but laugh at his face every time the boy turned angrily to look at him, walking a few steps behind.

Finally they reached the painting and the second Draco muttered the password, Zabini stormed in the room.

"Damn!" said Blaise, chuckling.

Draco stepped in and looked around. There were empty bottles of firewhiskey on the floor and bawls with leftovers of snacks on a table and some were also on the floor. There were cushions everywhere and laying on top of them were the five girls asleep. The Patil twins and Brown were huddled together under a green blanket and Hermione was on a big cushion with Weasley curling up next to her. They were practically hugging each other, probably to keep warm.

Zabini pointed at them and said almost whispering, "That's just plain hot!"

Draco chuckled but stared only at Hermione. She was wearing black, tight shorts that were practically knickers and a white t shirt. Her cheeks were flushed and her lips were slightly parted. She looked so tired but relaxed. He was still admiring her when Blaise's voice pulled him out of his thought.

"Drake?"

"What?" he said, sounding a little annoyed.

"Are those you boxers?"

* * *

_**A/N: I was really looking forward to the girls night! I hope I did it justice :D I had a lot of fun writing this chapter so I'd love to hear what you think**_

_**Special thanks to Verinova, Hermione'sBFF454, Dramione-Fan 17, VampyrGyrl, RosexDimitri JamesxBella, tay-lynnSayCarlisleGoHmm, GreenEyedVixen, Nolita Faerietale, xXdarkdemonic-uchihaXx, Kisses of Chocolate, Chasing and Cee M for reviewing. You guys made my day! xD**_

_**Also thanks to all of you added the story to favorites, alerts and specially all the people who **__**suggested a title for the last chapter.**_

**_And to Vampyrgyrl (I couldn't review reply you) I read Charades and it's really good I liked it a lot. Thanks for the recomendation! :D_**

_**I think the title for this one could be pretty obvious but if you come you with something more creative or funny, feel free to tell me :D**_

_**Of course your suggestions and comments are always welcomed. Oh and one more thing, I don't think I'll be able to update this week.***__**smiles apologetically***__** I know, it sucks! but I seriously have tons to do for school. I promise I'll try my best to update as soon as I can though.**_

_**She you guys later ;) **_


	6. The day after

_**A/N: Helloo! I know, it's been so long! I am so sorry. My life has been...complicated lately so I wasn't in the mood to write anything. And if I did it would turn out to be crap and I didn't want to disappoint you so... Again, so sorry for the waiting! Forgive me? *makes puppy eyes and pouts***_

_**Disclaimer: I didn't own Harry Potter in the last chapter, I don't own him now... get over it!**_

_**On with the chapter...**_

_**

* * *

**_**Chapert 6**

._**  
**_

Draco looked up, a frown forming in his brow. He glanced at his fellow Slytherin and followed his gaze to the fireplace. His frown deepened as he saw a pair of his black silk boxers hanging at the top of it.

"What the-" He pulled out his wand and with a quick flick of the wrist brought his boxers down into his hands. He looked back and forth from his bowers to Hermione, different scenarios forming in his mind. He glanced back to his friend who mirrored his own smile.

"See, I told you we should have come yesterday! They could have taken those _off_ you," and when Draco thought Zabini's grin couldn't get any wider, "...with their teeth."

At this comment Draco couldn't help it and laughed out loud, breaking the silence they had been unconsciously keeping with whispers.

"I like the way your mind works," he finally said with a malicious sneer playing in his lips.

Both boys turned their heads back to the girls as they heard a series of low grunts. Ginny had moved in her sleep, waking Hermione up, who in returned stretched her arms, waking up Ginny. The girls turned in the cushion with their eyes still closed until after a moment Hermione's eyes lazily fluttered open and her hand went to her face to shield them from the sunlight that came through the window.

Draco and Blaise stood frozen, waiting for the girl to acknowledge their presence. They didn't know how she would react or even how they themselves should.

Finally Hermione seemed to accommodate to the light but she blinked several times as she glanced about the room, feeling disoriented. Her head was spinning and as much as tried, her eyes didn't seem to focus. Her mouth was dry as a parchment and a bitter flavor lingered in her mouth. It took her a moment to realize she was in her common room and that seemed to calm her a bit. Her eyes wandered from the big opened window, to the extinguished fireplace, to a pair of tall figures standing to her right.

Hermione's heartbeat quickened as she tried to focus on the two men without much successes. She squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again to recognize the two Slytherins before her. She sighed in relieve, knowing that not long ago their being there wouldn't have been quite as comforting.

She watched the two boy's expressions. Zabini was looking at her, amusement in his eyes mixed with the hint mischievousness and smugness that she knew was common for all the Slytherins. Malfoy's eyes were also fixed on her, his mouth forming a sneer and Hermione wondered what was causing it.

"Long night, Granger?" he asked with a tone that let Hermione know he knew something. She had no idea what it was but he knew it.

As if on cue she felt her head pounding and a wave of nausea hit her, "You could say so..." She gulped and took deep breaths, fighting the urge to head for the bathroom.

Suddenly she realized the other girls were up too. They had gotten up and were gathering their stuff. She was annoyed at the fact that she only seemed to be able to focus on one thing at the time. It was as if her senses were numbed.

"You look like you're about to vomit," she heard Malfoy's voice again.

She turned slowly to face him, lifting her chin up and trying hard to keep her voice from breaking, barely succeeding at it, "I'm fine,"

"Ok," he said, not seeming convinced by her performance, "Then would you care to explain what my boxers were doing hanging on the wall?"

Hermione froze and so did the others in the room. All except the two Slytherins who were looking intently at her with their annoying amused expressions. She looked to the other girls, looking for some kind of support but only saw apologetic looks in their eyes.

"We wished we could stay, Mione..." said Lavander, not being able to finish her sentence because of the you-will-not-leave-me alone-in-this-one-or-I-swear-I-will-hex-you look Hermione was giving her.

"But there is a certain important business we need to tend to at the moment," continued Ginny bravely for her. The others murmured their apologies for "not helping her with the clean up" and they all left as quickly as they could.

Hermione was left, gaping after them in disbelieve. "And they call themselves Gryffindors... Those betraying little..."

"Did you say something, Granger?" Draco said, cutting her murmuring mid sentence.

"Nope, nothing..." She tried to buy some time to figure out what she was going to say, though the pounding in her head, the dizziness and the bright sunlight weren't really helping.

She suppressed a groan as she saw him open his mouth to say something again but was relieved with the words that came out of his mouth, "Weren't you supposed to meet your cousin for a quidditch lesson, Zabini?"

Blaise turned to look at the blond, not a hint of puzzlement showing in his features and nodded, "Yes, you're right, I'm running late." he turned to Hermione and gave her one of the dazzling smiles he only saved for potential conquests, "See you later Granger."

Draco didn't miss this and frowned at the retreating back of his best friend. What was going on with his friends? She turned to face the brunette only to see her poor attempts to stand up. She was gripping the arm of one of the couches for support but every time she pushed herself up the dizziness unsteadied her again.

He knew that this must have been torturing her, not only because she couldn't stand on her feet but because he was there to watch her fail. Something pulled in his chest that made him offer her his hand.

She looked at it, confusion obvious in her face and she looked up into his eyes, seeming to look for something in his face.

He only stared back and for some reason felt relieved as she took his hand. He felt like he had passed a test, like a door had been opened for him. The door to her trust and the help he needed.

He helped her up, holding her hand until she opened her eyes again and seemed stable.

"Thanks,"

He nodded, not releasing her gaze, "Sure,"

She looked about the room again, taking in the mess they had caused and groaned.

"I take from the look of the room you girls had a good time," Draco chuckled.

To Hermione it still felt very weird to talk to him like this, no interchange of insults or threats. Just like two normal teenagers taking in the aftermath of a sleepover. It was almost amusing, after everything they had been through. Though wasn't this what she had been looking for this year? A normal, ordinary life in school?

"Yeah, it was fun," she admitted, a smile appearing in her lips as she remembered last night's events. She let out a sigh and said, almost thinking aloud, "I think I'll have a shower before starting with the clean up."

She started heading for her bedroom door when his voice stopped her on the spot, "I still want to know how my boxers ended up hanging above the fireplace,"

"To tell you the truth Malfoy, I have no idea. I can't remember half the things that happened last night," she shrugged to make her act more convincing, "I don't even know how I ended up in that cushion." Everything but her last statement was a lie. Of course she remembered how the others had taken his boxers from his closet and hung them on the wall. How the had pretended to worship it and make promises to it to get in Malfoy's bed, all just for fun of course. The last part of the night was still fuzzy, though.

Draco recognized the lie right away but decided to go along with it. Humiliate her would not help his plan, "Hmm... too bad, I really was curious. What could five girls possibly want with my boxers?" He couldn't help it, he just loved watching her squirm.

Hermione's face reddened as she shrugged.

"I guess I'll just have to ask one of the other girls..." he said, looking at her eyes widen a bit and then turning his gaze at the piece of silk clothing in his hands to hide the smile on his lips.

"Yeah, though I don't think they'll be much more helpful, we had a lot to drink last night..." this only made Draco's smile widen though he had to admit she was a pretty good liar, almost as good as a Slytherin.

He chuckled in response and nodded to one of the empty bottles of firewhiskey, "Yeah, I can see that. Firewhiskey, huh? Wouldn't have thought that was your drink of choice."

Hermione's eyes narrowed, she wasn't sure what to make of the comment, "What _would_ you have thought was my drink of choice?" She didn't mean to sound so defensive.

"Well, I couldn't possibly guess the exact drink but if I saw you... let's say in a club, the last drink I would buy you would be a firewhiskey."

He saw the perplexed look in her eyes and explained, "Well, you're not used to drinking so if a gave you a firewhiskey I couldn't enjoy a civil conversation with you for long. A cocktail is more suitable. Preferably sweet...I'm I right?" He noticed she was completely awestruck by his explanation as she nodded and simply couldn't help it, "That is of course if I wanted to simply talk to you."

He saw the surprise hit her as her cheeks flushed. It took her a moment to speak again, "I'm going to take that shower now."

He nodded, "Right."

She started for the second time that morning to walk towards her bedroom but again stopped to turn to him, "I'm sorry we broke into your bedroom and took one of your personal belongings. It was extremely rude us and I apologize."

He blinked several times, taking in her words. He knew it was only natural for her to apologize but for some reason it affected him, a sort of tense atmosphere forming between them again. Finally, he nodded, "Apology accepted."

* * *

.

When Hermione was done with her long shower she felt a lot better, though her head still hurt and she was incredibly thirsty.

When she was done getting ready she headed to the common to gather her things and meet her friends by the lake. When her hand was a the doorknob she remembered the mess that was still in the common waiting for her. She groaned aloud though she knew it would only take her a few flicks of her wand to put back in order again. Still, cleaning up was something she had always hated from the years she lived without magic... that's why she never made a mess to start with.

She reluctantly opened the door only to find that everything was back where it was supposed to be. Only her green blanket remained neatly folded on one of the couches. She walked to the center of the room and noticed a corked vial on top of a small piece of parchment.

She reached down for them and noticed the elegant writing of her roommate:

.

_Granger,_

_Thought you wouldn't be in the mood to clean up._

_The potion in the vial is just a hangover potion._

_Drink it, it's not poison._

_I promise._

_M_

_.  
_

Hermione could almost see the his smirking face as he wrote i_t's not poison. _It was the two last words that baffled her the most though. They seemed way too... intimate for Malfoy to be saying to her, or rather writing.

She knew their conflicts should be over since they were on the same side and even more now that everything was over. She also knew that he and his family were trying really hard to make amends with society but still... it felt to weird to her. He was being _nice, _a word that had never mixed well with the name Malfoy; even more to her. _I guess I just need a little getting used to. It must be really hard for him to fight against all the prejudices people have against him._

For some reason she folded the parchment and tucked it between the pages of one of her books. She took the cork off the vial and gulped down the purple runny liquid without hesitation.

She took her things and headed outside.

.

..

She was walking down the grounds, the light breeze tousling her chocolate-brown curls in front of her eyes. She wore a white spaghetti strapped-top and a A-line dark-turquoise skirt that rested two inches above her knee, her black and turquoise bikini underneath.

She finally reached the spot where she ans her friends met on Saturdays to rest, and in her case, do some reading or sometimes even homework, much to the others frustration. They sat under a tree by the shore or sometimes when the day was sunny they would sit on a big flat rock and swing their feet in the warm water.

Today Ginny was on the rock in a dark red bikini, sunbathing as the other two boys were throwing rocks at the water from under the cool shadow of a tree.

"Hey Mione!" Ron was the first to notice her presence and ran over to her, taking her books, "Please don't tell me you're doing homework on a day like this,"

Hermione bit her lip. She was seriously tempted to leave her books aside and just lay in the sun, "I didn't get to do much work yesterday. I still have a lot to do," She grimaced apologetically.

"You still have all the afternoon and tomorrow to do it. Please, just relax for a while," He beamed at her and she noticed his bright red hair shining under the sunshine.

She sighed, knowing she stood no chance from the beginning, "Ok,"

"Hey Mione!" said Harry when he saw them approach. Ron put her things next to the tree trunk where Ginny had left her clothes, "I see Ron has convinced you to put off your homework," she simply shrugged and the dark-haired turn to his other friend, mimicking almost to perfection their transfigurations teacher, "Mr. Weasley! You are a dreadful influence for Miss Granger! Detention! A week getting rid the fur balls in my office!"

Ron and Hermione laughed at the joke though Hermione slapped his arm lightly, "That's a horrible thing to say, Harry!"

"Hermione!" Ginny squealed from the rock and waved the brunette to join her.

Hermione frowned, remembering how the girl had abandoned her earlier that morning to deal with the two Slytherins, but headed towards her anyway, knowing from experience she couldn't stay mad at her for long.

"Hello Ginny," she said, not looking at her.

"Mione, I'm so sorry for leaving like that today! Please say you forgive me! Please!" The redhead gripped her arm and rested her head against her shoulder, pouting.

"Urgh... you know I forgive you,"

Ginny kissed her cheek, grinning at her, "Thank you! Now take off your clothes and bake under this wonderful sun with me."

Hermione shook her head at her friend but stood up and removed her clothes only the two pieces of her bikini remaining. They sat leaning back, their hands flat against the warm rock. Hermione had her eyes closed, enjoying the warm sun on her skin.

They spent a few minutes in silence until Ginny spoke again, "Damn!"

Hermione's eyes didn't open, "What?"

"The view, its breathtaking!" the redhead answered, really sounding out of breath.

Hermione opened her eyes, curious. She looked at the horizon but it seemed exactly the same as the last time her eyes were opened. Ginny placed her hand at the brunette's cheek and pushed her face in the right direction.

Jogging along the line of the shore were the two boys Hermione had met in her room earlier that morning. They were topless, their bare torsos glinting with a light sheen of sweat, their muscles enhanced by their movements. The two girls couldn't seem to rip their eyes off of the two figures approaching.

"Wow..." Ginny said in a haze.

"Yeah..."

.

..

...

Blaise and Draco had gone to their usual jog. They had been doing this ever since their forth year, as a way to get away from the pressure the Slytherin common seem to place over them. They would jog along the shore of the black lake and talk about trivial things or simply share a comfortable silence.

"What happened with Granger after I left?" Zabini asked as they stretched.

"Nothing..." Draco answered, trying to sound uninterested in the subject.

"What do you mean 'nothing'?" The Italian turned to face him, his brow furrowed.

Draco knew he couldn't keep his intentions from his best friend for long. He was the only person it the school who had been with him all along and they told each other everything, which wasn't common along Slytherins.

Draco sighed, placing his arms on his hips."All right, you were bound to find out eventually anyway."

Zabini's frown deepened, "What are you talking about?"

Draco told him everything, from the pact they had made on the first night to the last conversation earlier that morning, obviously saving some of his private thoughts to himself.

"I have to admit, it is a rather good plan and you're performance this morning was very astute." Zabini said, they had already started jogging.

"Thank you," Draco replied, smugly.

"What is the next step?"

"I don't know... Everything has been sort of thought in the moment," He pondered over what he should do for a moment but nothing seemed right, " I'll just let the circumstances decide. That seems to have worked well so far."

"I guess you're right," Blaise nodded. Draco noticed his friend was grinning and looked at him with a questioning look, "What do the circumstances say, then?"

"What?" Draco frowned, having no clue of what his friend was saying.

Zabini nodded to a rock ahead and Draco understood. Hermione and the Weaselette were sitting on th rock in their bikinis, apparently sunbathing.

Draco's gaze remained on the brunette, her soft skin was glowing with the sunlight and he had to admit she looked hot in that black bikini. Her long legs were stretched before her, one slightly bent at the knee. That was definitely his favorite part of her body, her legs. If he hadn't been so busy eyeing her, he would have scolded himself for admitting he had a favorite part of her body.

"Well?" Zabini asked, ripping Draco's attention from the girl back to him.

The blond shook his head to clear his thoughts but still the answer didn't come to him, "I don't know...Nothing."

"Well if you can't come up with anything..." Draco looked quickly to his friend to see what he was planning but he was too late. The wolf whistle had already left his lips.

.

* * *

_**A/N: Yeah...that was it....**_

_**Do you think I'm moving too fast with them? I'm not sure... I mean, it's not like their in love wit each other but still, I don't know... what do you think?**_

_**Special thanks to BFFofCrazyShopoholicPixe-Alice, RosexDimitri JamesxBella, Avanell, blondiexoxo, Nolita Faerietale, xXdarkdemonic-uchihaXx, TierneyJean, Naomii, Chasing, aznxcherry95, HarryPGinnyW4eva, IvyXx, golddigga, SiriusBlackIsMyBitch, Kisses of Chocolate, Dramione-Fan 17 and Cee M for reviewing. You brought a smile to my face xD**_

_**Also thanks to all of you added the story to favorites, alerts and all the people who suggested a title for the last chapter.**_

_**Your suggestions for the title, feedback and comments are always welcomed!**_


	7. Distractions and JellO shots

_**A/N: Hey guys! Again I'm so very sorry for not updating in sooo long. You know how school is... I'll try to write more in the next 4 weeks that I don't have classes (whoo hoo!!!*does happy dance*) Again, I'm so sorry! I know how much it sucks when an author doesn't update :S**_

_**I used three quotes from the House Quote Challenge by keelhaulrose for the HPFC. I may be using more in the future.**_

_**Anyway, here's the new chapter!**_

_**Disclaimer: I seriously doubt anyone here actually thinks that I own Harry Potter. Seriously people, I don't!**_

* * *

Chapter 7

"Very subtle Zabini!" hissed Draco, his pace growing slightly faster. After all he was a Malfoy. Malfoys do _not_ panic. He kept going, eyes to the front, pretending like nothing happened. He heard Zabini chuckle next to him, and as soon as they were out of sight he punched the Italians shoulder as hard as he could, almost knocking him to the side.

"Ouch! No need to get aggressive, Drake!"

"What was that?" Asked the blond, pointing back to where the girls were.

Zabini smiled mischievously and shrugged, "Just a little help.."

"How was that _helping_ me?" he said, his voice turning a pitch higher.

"Well... you got her attention didn't you?"

"That's not the kind of attention I'm looking for!" He let out a sigh of frustration, "I'm not trying to get her in my bed; I need us to be sort of friends or at least I need to get her to trust me." He explained as if he were talking to a 4-year-old.

Blaise seemed to ponder over it, "I see... Well that's not exactly my area of expertise."

Draco chuckled, "No, it is definitely not!"

Zabini turned to him, an offended look on his face, "Hey, I resent that tone! For your information I have many talents: I can play the harmonica with my nose, make a penny come out of a child's ear, or any other orifice for that matter, and given the right circumstances bring two women to simultaneous ecstasy."

Draco patted his friends back, trying hard not to laugh, "I know, I'm just saying your not exactly sensitive when a serious relationship with a girl is concerned."

Blaise nodded but still looked a little offended. Draco frowned letting a small chuckle escape his lips, "I didn't know you were so sensitive about the subject."

At this Zabini straightened up and cleared his throat, "I'm not," he replied in a detached way, "Lets head back to the castle."

---DHDHDHD--

Hermione just sat on the warm stone wide-eyed. Finally she looked to her right, only to find Ginny smiling madly.

"Oh my God!" The redhead grabbed Hermione's arm, shaking it violently, "Did you see what just happened or was it just my imagination playing cruel tricks on me?"

Hermione laughed at her friend and pulled her arm from her tight grasp, "Yes Ginny, I saw it!"

Ginny turned to stare blankly at the brunette, "Are you sure? Because your reaction is all wrong... I mean, this is Blaise Zabini we're talking about! Blaise Zabini. B-l-a-i-s-"

"I know who we're talking about! He's cute and all but, I don't know," she shrugged, "he's just not my type."

Ginny sighed dramatically, "Ok, first of all Zabini is not _cute, _he is HOT! And second, how is great abs, big arms, wavy dark hair, green eyes, sexy voice, slight Italian accent, smart, bad boy not your type?

Hermione laughed, "Well you certainly have been paying attention..."

"Of course I have!" she answered sweetly.

"I mean, I do think he's attractive and all but he wouldn't be my first choice..." As soon as these words left her lips, Hermione regretted it. She turned to her friend and found her smiling suspiciously.

"And exactly who would be your first choice?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and turned to look at the lake, trying to hide her blushing face, "You know who..."

"Hey!" Ron's voice startled the two, making them jump in their seat, "let's get back to the castle, I'm starving!"

"Really, Ron? You? Hungry? Who would have thought?" said Ginny as she and Hermione put their clothes back on.

Ron turned to her defensively, "What? A man has to eat!"

---DHDHDH----

After lunch Hermione walked to McGonagall's office to talk to her about the ball. She entered the Transfigurations classroom and as she crossed it to get to the office at the back, she couldn't help but stare at the different animals/objects on either side of the room that kept changing their form for the students to see. She had always enjoyed this particular subject because she loved to discover what sort of things were hidden inside the animals. There was always more than meets the eye.

She reached the door and knocked softly before letting herself in.

The Professor was dressed in her usual emerald-green robes and her hair was up in a tight bun. Her office was, of course, completely organized, from her books lined up in alphabetical order on her bookshelves to her parchments, all neatly piled up on her desk. She was at the back of the room, searching for a book, her back to Hermione.

"Please sit down Miss Granger," McGonagall said as she walked to her desk and sat down, "Now, what did you want to speak with me about?

"Well, Malfoy and I are a bit confused about the ball that will take place in a couple of weeks. We thought we were in charge of organizing this sort of events and yet no-one told us about this."

"Oh yes, I'm sorry, I planned to talk to you two about it before we announced it but Dumbledore just couldn't wait."

Hermione smiled. After all the terrible things that had happened and the hard tasks he was entrusted with she admired the Headmaster for being able to keep that childlike attitude he had always been known for.

"We didn't tell you sooner about the ball because as the idea was suggested by a group of sixth-years, the Headmaster only agreed to allow it with the condition that they were in charge of organizing it. Now, this doesn't mean that Mr. Malfoy and you are not involved in the process. You will be in charge of supervising every decision, making sure that it sticks to the rules of the school."

"Yes professor."

"The first meeting is to be held tomorrow night, at eight o'clock in the Charms classroom. Also make sure that the planning of the ball doesn't come in the way of the classes or any other school work; this is a strictly extracurricular activity."

"Of course. Professor."

"If that is all, I will see you in class on Monday. Good afternoon, Miss Granger."

"Good afternoon Professor."

Hermione walked out of McGonagall's office and headed for her common, set on finally doing the assignment she wanted to do that morning. _No more distractions! I can't believe it's already night and I haven't done anything!_

As she walked in the common room, she headed straight to her desk, opening her books and taking out a long piece of parchment and a quill.

After a couple of minutes of work she was startled by a door opening. She looked up from her paper only to see Malfoy, Zabini and Nott coming out of Malfoys bedroom, laughing at something Theo has said. At first they didn't see her sitting by the fireplace but much to Hermione's discomfort Zabini turned her way,

"Well look who we have here!" he said, taking a bow, "Good evening, Miss Granger!"

"Hello Zabini" she raised her chin almost proudly deciding she wouldn't let them make her feel uncomfortable, much less nervous.

Zabini seemed taken aback by her attitude as he walked closer, "Why the coldness, Granger?"

Hermione let herself relax a little, there was no reason to over react, "What coldness?" she asked with a softer tone. Now that Zabini was closer to the light she could see the his bloodshot eyes. She turned to look at the other two who were still by Malfoy's door and although the lightning was bad, she was sure their eyes were bloodshot as well. _Typical... _

Nott stepped forward, "Hello Hermione! How are you?" He asked, more light-heartedly than Zabini but still the malicious tone was there. Slytherin trait, she guessed.

"Good, Theo. How are you?" It was still awkward for her to call him by his first name but she loved to see the surprised faces of the other two.

"Very well, thank you,"

"So Granger," said Zabini with what Hermione recognized was a dangerous tone, "had a rough night huh?"

Dangerous indeed, "Not at all, we had a lot of fun,"

"Yes, no doubt about that. I saw the empty bottles..." Hermione blushed as flashbacks of the previous night came to her.

Blaise noticed this and added, "No need to be embarrassed. If you only knew the situations we've gotten ourselves into," he chuckled.

Hermione smiled, she appreciated him empathizing with her, "Yeah, I can imagine," she thought for a second, "Actually, I can't,"

Nott laughed, "You have no idea,"

The three of them stood in front of her desk for a few seconds as an awkward silence spread between them. It was Draco who broke it, "Well we were just going to go-"

"Sit down here for a bit," Theo cut him off, sitting down on the large couch in front of the fireplace. Zabini turned his back to Hermione and grinned at Draco as he walked towards he couch to seat next to Theo. Draco sat on the big chair to the left without saying a word. _What are they trying to do? _He felt uneasy with his friend's behavior but he wasn't about to let Granger know that.

"Alright, I'm just going to finish my runes assignment," said Hermione, pointing at her books with her quill.

"Of course," said Theo and offered politely, "Let me know if you need help, I'm fairly good at runes," But all of them knew Hermione wouldn't need any help. Since when did she need help with homework?

Hermione simply smiled and looked back down to her books. How was she supposed to concentrate now? She went over the text with her eyes but she wasn't actually understanding any of it.

Draco glared at his friends as they grinned mischievously back at him. They sat in silence for a couple of minutes, figuring out a subject they could talk about in front of Hermione.

"So Draco," Malfoy gave Theo a warning look. He could count on him saying something inappropriate, even more when he was stoned, "how do you feel about the quidditch team this year?"

_Is quidditch all they think about? _thought Hermione

"I think our chances of winning the cup are really good. All the team practiced a lot at home to get ready for the tournament."answered Draco, relaxing a bit.

"I can't believe Hooch is making us write down the statistics of the team! One of the good things about Quidditch was that there were no quills or parchments involved," said Zabini, now really paying attention to the conversation.

"What are you talking about?" asked Theo.

"Hooch chose one player of each team to be in charge of writing down the statistics of the team and each one of their players. She chose our Blaise here for Slytherin." answered Draco, finally having something to smile for in the tense situation.

Theo laughed mockingly, "And how's that going, Blaise?"

Zabini snorted in a yeah-right sort of way, "I'm not doing it, I'm too handsome to do paperwork. I made one of the second years do it for me."

"Of course," he nodded knowingly.

Draco looked at the time and was relieved to see it was already time for the prefects to do their rounds, "Don't you have rounds today?"

The other two looked at their watches, "Damn it..." sighed Theo.

"We _could_ stay a bit longer," said Zabini, "I mean, who's going to notice,"

Hermione turned in her seat to stare at them with a menacing look. The boys immediately stood up, "Time to go, Nott! See you tomorrow, Drake. Hermione," said Blaise quickly as he rushed out the door.

"Yeah... Bye Drake," he said lazily but smiled as he turned to Hermione, "Good night, Hermione!"

"Good night, Theo," she replied, still looking at him defiantly.

Once the boys were out the door, Draco took one of the books from his desk and laid on the couch to read. After a couple of minutes he looked up and saw that Hermione was picking up her things and heading for her room. He turned his attention back to his book.

---ZZZZzzzzz---

"Malfoy?"

Draco looked up from his book lazily; he had almost fallen asleep, "Yeah?"

"Oh sorry, I didn't notice you were asleep," she said, a slight grimace on her face. She was standing right in front of the couch he was sleeping on.

He stood up quickly, rubbing his face with his hands, "No no, I'm up," he said quickly, "What is it?"

"I just wanted to tell you that I talked to McGonagall today about the ball and she said that a group of sixth-years are in charge of organizing it so we only have to supervise them. The first meeting is tomorrow night,"

"Oh good, that won't be much work,"

"Yeah..."

Draco noticed the slight blushing in Hermione's cheeks as she looked down at her hands, "Um... I also wanted to thank you, you know for cleaning up this morning... and for the potion,"

Draco did his best to hide his victorious smile, "Yeah sure, no problem. I figured the firewhiskey would be problematic,"

Hermione laughed,"Yes, it really was,"

"You should really consider a cocktail or... a Jell-O shot. Yes, see Jell-O shots are a good option in that sort of situation," he started counting with his fingers, "they're sweet, and for you girls that's a big deal for some reason, they're aren't as strong as firewhiskey, so they won't knock you out that easily and... " he thought for a third and the then added, smiling, "and you can make them in different colors!"

At this Hermione burst out laughing. Draco stared at her, smiling, "What?"

When her laughter died down she replied, "Nothing...Why are the colors such a big plus on your list?"

"Ok, first of all, is not my list, is your sleepover list and second, who doesn't like multi-colored, alcoholic, gelatinous...goo?"

"Yes, sounds delicious," answered Hermione, still chuckling.

Draco shrugged, "Is not bad,"

Hermione stared at him, more serious now. "What?" he asked.

"Somehow I just can't imagine you taking a Jell-O shot."

"Why not?" he asked, almost seeming offended.

"I don't know... I think you're more a firewhiskey kind of guy,"

Draco smiled at that comment. She was trying to figure out what kind of guy he was... and so far she was getting it right. Yes, it was only firewhiskey but it was still something, right?

Until then he realized how natural this conversation felt, like two friends talking about trivial stuff late at night.

"Well, yes I like firewhiskey but I also drink other stuff as well,"

"Ok,"

After a moment, Draco spoke again, "So the potion worked?"

"Yes, perfectly," she nodded.

"Good,"

Hermione let out a yawn, "I think I'll to bed now. I didn't get much sleep last night,"

Draco chuckled, "Yeah, I'm sure you didn't,"

She walked lazily to her bedroom, "And Ginny kept kicking me in her sleep," she complained. When she opened the door, she turned to him, "Good night Malfoy,"

For the first she said it really meaning it, not just out of good manners; and Draco noticed the difference, "Good night,"

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_**A/N: ladies and gentleman, they are bonding! Aren't they cute!?**_

_**I think this was a very... random chapter. I mean it doesn't get any more random than Draco's insight on Jell-O shots... I don't know, let me know what you think ;)**_

_**Special thanks to Black31795, Rachella23, tia, BroadwayNightOwl, Kisses of Chocolate, HarryPGinnyW4eva, TierneyJean, 4everthesickestbabe16, RosexDimitri JamesxBella, BFFofCrazyShopoholicPixe-Alice, Chasing, xX-NoVoCaInE-Xx, Dramione-Fan 17, jaspersace22, He calls me Roza and Lizzie! for reviewing. Your support means a lot!**_

_**Saludos a Lizzie! en Mexico. I couldn't review-reply you but thanks a lot for the great review and support. I'm so glad you like the fic so far xD**_

_**Also thanks to all of you who added the story to favorites, alerts and all the people who suggested a title for the last chapter. Any ideas for this one?**_

_**One last announcement people and I promise to leave you alone. I created a community for Slytherins, you know all fics about at least one Slytherin. It's called Slytherin Pride and I'm looking for staff because I can't read fics right now (Internet issues, don't ask...) and I basically read only Dramiones so it would be an all dramione community and that's not what I intended for my community... Anyway if any of you guys likes to read Slytherin-involving fics and don't mind clicking on one more button to add them to my community, PM me :D**_

_**Hopefully I'll see you soon! xx**_


	8. Mental Head Slap and a Handkerchief

_**A/N: I know, I know! Once again I'm sorry!!!!!!! Forgive me?:D**_

_**Anyway, here it is...**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Big shock there!**_

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Chapter 8

Sunday morning Hermione got up decided on finishing her homework. It wasn't like her to leave everything for the last minute but you had to agree this weekend's circumstances weren't really helpful. Well, it wasn't actually last minute. She had a system, and in that system she did her assignments a week ahead. Is it a crime to be organized?

She finished getting ready as fast as she could and headed straight to the library, avoiding another visit from Malfoy's friends. Although it was highly unlikely that they would be up this early.

Very few students were out on the halls. It was a chilly morning, perfect for staying under the covers but that wouldn't keep a couple of Ravenclaws (and Hermione, of course) from sitting on one of the desks in the library, surrounded by big, old-smelling books.

A couple of hours later Hermione was still scribbling away when she heard someone lay their books on the table and sit in front of her. She looked up from the parchment to find none other than Draco Malfoy smirking/smiling down at her. _Oh you know what I mean! That sexy sneer that makes you want to giggle like an idiot... _

"Hey!" He said as he took an ink bottle and a quill from his bag.

"Hey..." she replied, still frowning in confusion at him. Needless to say, this wasn't Malfoy's normal behavior.

He looked up from the book he had just opened as if he'd felt her gaze on him, "Is something wrong?" he asked feigning puzzlement, but knowing perfectly well the cause of he furrowed brow.

"No, it's just..." She was about to tell him how his sitting with her was far from common or expected, but she hesitated. Here he was, making an effort and being nice to her and she was about to object? ...and point out the obvious.

She tried to figure out something to say instead, but her mind didn't seem to work as fast under his piercing scrutiny. Sometimes it amazed her how different he was from Ron or Harry. Malfoy was very observant and perceiving, you could see his eyes assessing everything quietly. Harry and Ron were mostly clueless, they couldn't take a hint if it hit them with a bludger, "uh... it's just for a moment I thought your hair looked different today, sort of darker, " she laughed awkwardly.

_Hair? Really? That's all I could come up with? Way to go, Hermione! *mental head slap* _

He chuckled, smoothly running a hand through his hair, "Wouldn't dream of it. Once I dyed it black for Halloween, Zabini and I thought it would be funny to go as muggle vampires. Anyway, it was only a temporary spell but my father was furious when I showed it to him," he laughed at the memory, but quickly focused back on her and shrugged, "He says it's sort of a Malfoy thing... as ridiculous as that may sound."

Hermione laughed, picturing Lucius Malfoy carefully brushing his long hair in front of a mirror, a contented smile on his face, "Who would've thought your father was so into hair?"She stared at him as their laugh died down, "But I guess he was kind of right. I can't imagine your hair being different."

"Really?" He said, not as a question but in a considering tone, his eyes narrowing in the slightest.

She answered nonetheless, "Yes. It suits you, I guess,"

"I a good way?" he said, the corners of his mouth slightly curling upwards.

She opened her mouth to answer but closed it again, cocking her head to the side as a smile spread on her lips, "Fishing for compliments, Malfoy?"

He let out another smirk/smile, this time with a little more smirk into it and raised his shoulders as if admitting a crime, "Couldn't help it."

More minutes passed, the air filled with the scratching of their quills on the parchment, the opening and closing of books and the casual conversation and laughter in between.

Hermione chuckled at one of his witty comments but her laugh was drowned by the sound of the clock at the end of the room. Draco looked down at his own watch to check the time, "I'm afraid I have to go," Hermione could see from a small hint of disappointment in his eyes as he looked at his watch that he was telling the truth. He gathered his things, putting them neatly in his bag and stood up, "My friends and I have some... business to take care of. I'd tell you all about it but I don't want to bore you with... uninteresting dealings." He smirked/smiled at the remark.

_I really need to come up with a verb for that smirk, _Hermione thought, allowing it to distract her, only for a second, "Right... I think I'll go with 'Ignorance is Bliss' for once,"

She wasn't sure why she was letting him get away with it. She knew perfectly well that anything involving Malfoy and his friends broke at least 10 school rules but she also knew that running after them all year long would be pointless. They _always _won. She just didn't feel like it this year, and by now she knew that nothing would get through to Malfoy, much less to the others. Maybe she was growing soft but at this point, who really cares anymore?

"Wise decision," he granted her, nodding to her. He turned to leave but hesitated, finally turning back towards her, "I had a good time, studying with you," His eyes were very intense, as if he was emphasizing his words with his stare.

Hermione felt a sudden warmness rise to her cheeks as she smiled demurely, "I did too; it was nice,"

Giving her one las smirk/smile, he winked seductively and walked away.

---later---

During dinner, Hermione recounted everything that happened in the library to Ginny, without leaving any of the juicy details (as the redhead frequently called them) out. When she was done, Ginny stared off thoughtfully, doing a through analysis of the scene.

"Wow," she finally whispered.

"Yeah," agreed Hermione simply, watching her friend's face intently for a verdict.

"I'm not sure, yet... I mean, judging his behavior this morning alone I'd say he fancies you," Hermione rolled her eyes at her friend's suggestion, "but! Let me finish!" Ginny exclaimed, "After all you've been through, your history... I mean, you've hated each other from day one!"

Hermione nodded in agreement and they stared at each other as if trying to read the other's thoughts. They were seating away from the others to keep their conversation private. Dinner was just starting so there were few students in the Great Hall.

"It _could _ be possible,"

Hermione grimaced like she didn't understand what Ginny was saying, "Seriously Ginny?"

"Why not?" the redhead replied in a high-pitched voice.

"Malfoy interested in me?" she nodded her head, discarding the idea, "It just seems too far-fetched. Besides, he has all the girls in the school throwing themselves at his feet. What would he want with me?"

"Oh 'Mione! Haven't you heard?" Ginny said, throwing an arm around the brunette's shoulders, "Men always want what they can't have," she said matter-of-fact-ly, "It's got something to do with their primitive hunting instincts."

--- later---

At 7:40 pm. Hermione and Ginny made their way towards the Charms classroom. Ginny was one of the sixth-years who had come up with the idea of a ball. _No surprise there_, thought Hermione. As they were going up the last flight of stairs, they heard voices coming from the hall. They finally reached the hall and saw who the voices belonged to.

In front of the Charms classroom stood Ron and Luna talking, partially hidden under the shadow of one of the stone columns.

"Well, uh... there you go," said Ron awkwardly handing her a couple of books that he must have been carrying for her. Something he had never done for Hermione, she noted.

"Thanks for walking me here, Ron," Luna said in her dreamy, sweet voice, focusing her big eyes on his face.

"Sure, no problem!" He chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head, "Ehm... yeah...Bye!"

"Bye!" Luna took a step to the right, reaching for the doorknob to enter the class but Ron stopped her, abruptly planting a kiss on her cheek and immediately walking (or rather running) away, the opposite direction from where Ginny and Hermione stood bewildered.

"'Mione..." said Ginny quietly, tuning to look at her uneasily.

"Oh, you know what Ginny," she said, swallowing hard to push back the knot that had formed in her throat, "I forgot some forms McGonagall gave us to fill up during the meeting to let her know about the progress you're making. I'll just go back to my bedroom and get them. You go on ahead, I'll be right back," With that she backed away from her friend and walked as fast as she could without actually running.

After she felt far enough from Ginny she stopped at a corner and leaned against the wall, gasping loudly. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. She knew she was probably overreacting but she couldn't help it. He had never acted with her the way he acted around Luna tonight. It wasn't only that he was carrying her books, or even the kiss (not that that didn't feel like a punch in her stomach every time she thought about it). It was his nervousness, the way his hands seem to be sweating and his heart seemed to be going faster... He never acted like that around her.

But why not? All the other girls thought he had feelings for her. And lately he had been so sweet and kind to her...

Hermione's thoughts were interrupted by a tall figure that turned around the corner and bumped straight into her.

"Oh! Granger! I didn't see you there, sorry," he said, grabbing her by the shoulders to keep her from falling. Hermione looked up and recognized Malfoy's blurry body through the tears still in her eyes.

Draco looked at her closely and realized she was about to cry, "Granger? What's wrong?"

Hermione blinked, trying to push back her tears but managed to spill them instead. She started sobbing quietly as she rubbed her face with her hands to clean up the tears.

"Come here," Draco pulled her towards one of the benches against the wall and sat her down. He stared at her for a a moment, unsure of what to do. He wanted to know what was wrong but he also didn't want to scare her away by being too pushy, "Are you hurt?"

She shook her head but kept it hidden under her hands. Her shoulders were trembling but she wasn't crying anymore.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" he asked, cautiously and offered her a handkerchief he always carried around in his pocket in request of his mother. She said it was gentlemanly.

Hermione took it, wiping away the tears from her cheeks. She looked up but wouldn't look at him. Her eyes were bloodshot and puffy from crying.

She shook her head, "You don't need to do this, you know," She spoke softly to hide the way her voice quivered.

"Do what?"

"Stay here and pretend that you care."

Draco wasn't shocked by her assumption. Anyone who new him would've thought the same thing. He only showed this kind of concern about his closest circle of friends. In private of course; a Slytherin doesn't let others sense their moments of weakness.

He himself was surprised by the sudden interest he felt for her feelings, "I'm not pretending,"

She looked up into his eyes; he was staring right back. She wanted to trust him. She wanted someone to talk to who wasn't also Ron's friend, someone who would take only _her_ side. However the thought of that person being Malfoy was simply... ridiculous.

She blew out a sigh, staring at her hands on her lap, "It was nothing really,"

"Oh, I see," he said, his lips curling up slightly on one side, "So you were walking down a corridor and all of a sudden thought: Hey, this looks like a great spot for crying. I'm going to give it a try."

She laughed at his joke, already feeling better.

He stood up and held his hand out for her, "Come on, we're late for that stupid meeting,"

Hermione glanced at her watch and was shocked when she realized they had been there for 15 minutes, "Merlin, you're right! We must hurry," She took his hand, standing up quickly and heading immediately towards the Charms classroom.

Draco chuckled, shaking his head sightly but followed her lead. Hermione stopped and turned back to him suddenly, almost making him bump into her.

"Something wrong?" he asked, looking back to the bench they had been sitting on to check that she didn't forget anything.

"No, I just," he turned back to her but she avoided meeting his eyes, " I, um... Thank you... for trying to cheer me up. It was really nice of you."

His smirk/smile appeared again, "Anytime,"

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_**A/N: **_

_**So? Did you like it?**_

_**I couldn't actually come up with a name for the smirk/smile... Maybe you guys can think of something...**_

_**I'd like to thank WhitePhoenixFlame not only for reviewing but for actually PM-ing me for an update. I really appreciate it xD**_

_**Special thanks to: User Does Not Exist, -Music-To-My-Soul-, MissNessieCullen, novocaine-x, Rachella23, Dramione-Fan 17, RxDJxB Lestrange, Chasing, Evil Tobi, BFFofCrazyShopoholicPixe-Alice for reviewing.**_

_**Also thanks to all of you who added the story to favorites, alerts and all the people who suggested a title for the last chapter. Any ideas for this one? **_


	9. Plans in motion and 'To Do' lists

_**A/N: Finally! An Update! :D I really hope you like it ;)**_

_**There's a couple of Gilmore Girls quotes. Can you find them ;)**_

_**Also there are two quotes from the Pick-Up Lines Challenge by Pinly Green in the HPFC Forum. Now those I dare you to find! lol**_

_**Anyway, here it is!**_

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot :D**_

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Chapter 9

A low murmur of different conversations filled the Great Hall on Monday morning as most of the students lazily ate their breakfast before heading to their classes. The Slytherin table looked, as usual, fairly unoccupied in comparison to the other houses, even though it wasn't especially early. Slytherins were night creatures by nature. Despite this the quidditch team was all there. This afternoon's practice would require all the energy they could muster.

"You should really give us a brake, Malfoy." complained Crabbe as he rose from his seat and picked up his bag from the floor.

"A break?" Draco turn to him, an annoyed and kind of intimidating look on his face which made Crabbe already regret ever opening his mouth.

"We haven't even played our first match and you're already whining?" Theo chuckled from the seat across Draco, "Man up, would you Crabbe?"

"I'll give you a break when we win the cup," said Draco as he turned back to his food, clearly bored with the conversation already.

Crabbe simply stood there with a blank look on his face, not knowing if he should go or not.

Blaise folded The Prophet he had been reading, leaving it to the side. He looked at Crabbe but quickly turn his gaze to his food, "That's it, you can go now," the Italian dismissed his teammate with a swift wave of his hand.

Crabbe nodded quickly and turned to walk away from the three boys. The other tree continued eating as if they never had been interrupted.

When he was done eating Nott gathered his things and stood, "I'm heading back to the common. I still have to finish Snape's assignment. Later." With that he left.

Zabini watched Theo's retreating back and when the boy was out the door, he turned to Draco animatedly, "So? How's it going with Granger?"

"Great," said Draco, smugness reflecting from his silver eyes, "Better than expected,"

Blaise lifted an eyebrow in surprise; he didn't expect Draco to be doing so well. He knew his friend had his way with women but this was Granger they were talking about, "Really? How so?"

Draco recounted the recent events to his friend, "When we finally got to the meeting I noticed she was very quiet and just took notes. At the end I wanted to walk with her back to the commons but the Weaselette latched onto her and they left together,"

Blaise nodded his head thoughtfully, analyzing the situation and finally said, "I must congratulate you Draco. You've handled this situation exceptionally well. I mean, at this rate you could even get her in your bed in a couple of weeks," added Zabini, smiling impishly.

Draco couldn't say he hadn't thought about it. He had, from the very first day actually, but he knew it wasn't as easy as Blaise thought. Hermione wasn't like most girls. She may be affected by him like the others but she wouldn't sell herself cheap. She wanted more, because she deserved it.

"Yes but I'm afraid this would only be a step backwards," he said, trying to sound as nonchalant as he could.

"Why? Are you really that bad in the sack?" asked the Italian mockingly. He was well aware of Draco's reputation.

Draco rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to say something but Zabini cut him off, "No no, I know what you mean. It's a shame though..."

"Yes, it is," added Draco, sharing a mischievous look with his friend but he knew they weren't sharing quite the same thoughts.

M

MISREAD-SIGNALS

S

"Monday again..." sighed Harry, staring at his bowl of cereal as if wishing it to provide some sort if entertainment, "Who would have thought school could be so...monotonous."

"Well I don't know about you but I'd much rather have monotonous than deadly enemies," Ron spoke as he started filling his plate with food. It was amazing how much his mood improved when he was in presence of food. _Or maybe it has something to do with his encounter with Luna last night. _

Hermione couldn't remove the image from her mind. She had talked to Ginny about it after the ball meeting. The redhead had practically launched at her before she could escape and insisted on talking about _it. _Hermione had to admit that it had made her feel bad. Not just bad, it had been an unexpected blow right in her stomach and she couldn't deny that to her best friend.

After a long walk back to their dorms (longer than it usually took them) Ginny had actually made Hermione feel better. She did have a point: Ron had always been nice to Luna. He felt bad for the way others treated her. So what happened the night before it wasn't a big deal really. He was just being a good friend.

Hermione had repeated this in her head over and over again last night, as she shifted in her bed, unable to sleep. She felt better this morning but there was always that little spark of doubt.

She shrugged the thought off, deciding to follow Ginny's advice and not give it much thought.

As if on cue the redhead and Lavander practically skipped their way to where they were sitting.

"Hey guys!" the girls said in chorus, standing behind Harry and Ron.

"You two are awfully cheerful for a Monday morning," Harry mumbled as the other two said their hellos.

"What's got your wand in a knot, Harry?" asked Lavander, ruffling his hair playfully.

"Stop!" said Harry with a chuckle, "It's nothing, I guess I'm just tired, that's all,"

"Well if you're done complaining we would like to borrow Hermione for a minute. We have an idea for the ball,"

Hermione repressed the sudden urge to roll her eyes and sigh as she stood from her seat, "I guess I'll see you two in potions,"

"Bye Grumpy!" said Lavander mockingly.

...

"Look I already told you, teachers will be at the ball! Alcohol will not be allowed!" insisted Hermione when they passed doors that led to the gardens. This had been one of the most important requests of the meeting. And Malfoy had not been particularly helpful in the discussion, so Hermione had to handle it on her own.

"No, that's not what we wanted to talk about. We just needed to get you away from the boys,"

"Besides, the Slytherins offered to throw an after party and well, you know Slytherin parties are the best," added Lavander with a wicked glint in her eyes that hinted the kind of fun she'd had in these parties.

"Right..." Hermione stared at Ginny who had what Hermione knew to be a very dangerous look. The glint in he eyes and her bright fiery hair made her look simply evil, "You look happy..."

Ginny's grin grew wider at her comment

"Did you do something slutty?"

"I'm not _that _happy"

"Ok then what is it?"

"We just wanted to let you know that we're putting our little plan in motion... today!" said Ginny with a fake innocent tone of voice and exaggeratedly looking up at Hermione from under her eyelashes.

Hermione didn't quite understand what she was talking about but the gestures alone started to make her anxious. Ginny was up to something that would most probably annoy her and she knew it.

"Care to elaborate on that?" she asked, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Allow me," smiled Lavander patting the redhead's arm, "remember that night we had a little slumber party in your dorm?"

Hermione simply nodded, her eyes narrowing even further.

"And do you remember when we agreed that it was for your best interest that I had a little chat with our dear Ronald Weasley?"

Hermione's eyes suddenly widened so that it looked like her eyes were about to pop out of her head, "Oh no! No no no no no!" she repeated, shaking her head desperately. She grabbed the two girls by the elbow and pulled them farther away from the double doors, finally stopping by one of the green houses, "You know that day I was pretty drunk..."

"Try wasted," Lavander chuckled sharing a look with Ginny, who laughed and nodded in response.

Hermione rolled her eyes, trying to ignore the fact that her friends were making fun of her, "What I mean is I was in no condition to be doing any decision making so I think we should forget about the plan and come up with a more reasonable, thought-out one,"

Lavander put her hands on her waist and shook her head slowly, giving Hermione a disappointed look, "Who would've thought? Hermione Granger... a coward,"

"A chicken!"

"Big war hero!" added Ginny and snorted sarcastically, "Try Miss Pee-Pants,"

"So much for the Golden Trio..."

"More like The Golden Pair and Miss Pee-Pants,"

Lavander laughed, "That sounds like a bed time story,"

Ginny turned to her, smiling and nodding, "I know, right?" As if suddenly remembering their previous topic, Ginny focused back on Hermione with a straight face, "No seriously, we're doing this,"

"No we're not!" Hermione was more than annoyed now. Didn't they realize how important this was to her? It wasn't just a high school crush. This was a life time of friendship, they had been through so much together and she couldn't stand the thought of losing him.

Lavander took a step towards her and grabbed her shoulders, staring intently into he eyes, "Look Hermione, we've already talked about this. Everything will be fine. He won't know you sent me and he most definitely will not shun you. There's nothing for you to worry about."

"Don't you want to know? To be sure?" Ginny walked and stood beside Lavander.

Hermione was cornered. She felt pressured... and defeated. They were right. She'd had enough, especially after last night. She swallowed the lump she just realized had formed in her throat and took a deep breath, "Okay, fine,"

Lavander hugged her, drowning her face in her silky dirty-blond curls and spoke softly in her ear, "It'll be ok, I promise,"

"When will you do it?"

Lavander released her, "I think it'll be best if you don't know. Just in case,"

"In case...?"

"In case you back out... again," finished Ginny.

"Right," Suddenly Hermione realized they were the only ones left in the gardens, "Oh no! I'm late for Potions!" And with that she took off, running as fast as her legs would carry her.

_Great! Let's give Snape yet another reason to dislike me..._

_..._

When she finally reached the dungeon, she rushed inside not minding how much noise she made. It's not like he wasn't going to reprimand her anyway. She pushed the door with so much strength that it bounced back and slammed shut. Hermione cringed at the loud noise but kept running to her seat.

"So kind of you to join us, Miss Granger!" Without turning to look at her, Snape spit her name like it was a dirty sock, "The schedule of a member of the Golden Trio must be incredibly busy,"

She kept quiet and took her seat next to Harry, trying to ignore the fact that she was now the center of attention.

Snape decided that it was enough for today and started organizing students into groups for today's assignment.

_This is going to be a long class; _she thought when Snape announced her group: Granger, Malfoy and Weasley.

She saw the two tall boys head to her table from both sides of the class room. Her heart raced as they closed in on her. For some reason she couldn't understand she felt like a vulnerable prey surrounded by dangerous predators.

"You okay, Mione?" asked Ron when he finally took the seat to her left. Hermione shook the ridiculous thoughts off her head and nodded, smiling reassuringly, "Yes, I'm fine Ron,"

She turned to the blond boy to her right. He'd remained quiet but she could see the tiny wrinkle forming between his eyebrows and his penetrating eyes fixed on her face. She gave him the same smile she'd given Ron and turned to open her book on the page with the ingredients for today's potion, "So, Draft of Peace..."

"Yes," said Malfoy stiffly as he slided down his chair, getting comfortable, "Go fetch the ingredients, Weasel,"

"You fetch them, Ferret!" Ron answered angrily, suddenly sitting up and his ears turning instantly crimson.

Malfoy's eyes turned venomous as he turned to Ron, his lips parting with a snide-full remark.

"Oh please don't start! I'll get them," she started to get up and both boys made a grab for her wrist but Ron spoke first, "No, I'll get them Mione," He stood up, glaring at Malfoy before heading for the ingredient cupboard.

Draco chuckled, shaking his head at Weasley's thickness. He felt Granger's eyes on him and turned to see her scowling at him.

"Do you _have_ to be so mean?"

"With Weasel? I'm afraid so, yes,"

She sighed quietly and turned to her book, the almost smile touching her lips didn't go unnoticed by Draco.

Ron returned balancing all the ingredients in his arms and dumped them on the table, in front of Hermione.

_It's like he's repellent to manners and elegance... _Draco frowned at the clutter the redhead had made.

With a flick of her wand Hermione organized all the ingredients in the order they would be using them. Ron was again gone, running towards the first row of seats, looking for a bottle of Hellebore Syrup. Meanwhile Hermione was struggling with a jar of Snakeweed she couldn't manage to get opened.

He gently took it from her hands, opened it and handed it back t her.

Hermione stared at him for a second but quickly added a soft, "Thank you,"

Draco couldn't hide the small smirk that came to his lips in satisfaction. He was getting better and better at this, "You're welcome,"

He turned back to the front and grabbed a knife to cut the fairy wing but couldn't resist and nudged her in the ribs, "See, that wasn't so mean,"

He could almost hear a crowd cheering as a grin spread in her face and she laughed at his joke. _Point for the handsome Slytherin!_

He felt someone's eyes on him and turned from her face to see a big, bright red balloon that he later realized was in fact Weasley's head. _Make that two points for the handsome Slytherin_

The rest of the hour passed quietly. Well, quieter than it was expected if Ron and Draco had to be working together. Hermione remained in silence except for the few times she had to ask the boys to behave.

The lesson was almost over when Hermione took the last ingredient from Ron's hands and added it slowly to the bubbling cauldron as Draco stirred the substance clockwise. Pink bubbles started emerging in the surface before the potion turned a clean white.

"We did it!" exclaimed Ron happily, not being used to succeed in potion-making.

"No, _Granger and I_ did it, you handed her the ingredients,"

He watched Weasley's ears burn comically but as usual, Granger interrupted, "Malfoy, Ron please! Just ten more minutes!"

With a smirk, Draco slouched in his chair again.

When Ron's ears had turned back to their normal color, he looked at Hermione with a soft expression. Draco rested his head on his arms, pretending to sleep but observed them from under his arm.

"Mione?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think I could possibly peak at your transfiguration homework? Just to compare it with mine, see if I got everything right?

"Ron, we've been friends since first year. By now I should know that the only reason you ask my homework is so you can copy it. You might as well tell me."

"Ok...Hermione, could I please copy your homework?" he made a face that made Draco want to punch him but it apparently worked because Hermione chuckled and pulled out a long parchment from her bag.

Even Ron looked impressed as he took it from her hands, "Well if I'd known honesty worked like this, I would've tried it long ago,"

"Don't get too excited. I'm only giving it to you because I know quidditch practice has been especially hard this year,"

Draco noticed Weasley's eyes glance anxiously at him but he relaxed when he noted he was "asleep."

"Well thank you Hermione, you are by far the best!" he said warmly and started copying the assignment quickly.

She gave him a stiff smile and she turned her gaze to her hands, resting on her lap.

This confused Draco. She seemed... sad. Why would she be sad? The tactless Weasel had, for once said nothing stupid of hurtful. What was this about? Had it something to do with how he'd found her crying yesterday?

Snape's loud order startled him, making him straighten up in jump. Hermione was already filling up a vial. She glanced at the sudden movement and smiled, finding his alarmed face funny. He stood up, quickly combing his hair with his hand and took the sample from her to take it to Snape's desk.

The professor took the vial and examined it, "Another job well done, Mr. Malfoy,"

If he hadn't heard the words, Draco wouldn't have guessed from his expression that he was giving a compliment. He had a deep crease between his eyebrows that gave him a permanent frowning face, "Thank you, sir,"

He was the last one to give the sample and Snape immediately announced the en of class.

When he was finally able to get out of the mass of students gathered together near the door, he saw Hermione making her way out of the dungeons, alone.

He quickened his pace to catch up with her, "Hey Granger!"

She turned, giving him an inquiring look, "Yes?"

He talked smoothly, never hesitating, "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You know, about whatever it was that was upsetting you yesterday."

He saw her eyes studying his face. He wondered what it was that she was searching for, "Granger?"

She was pulled out from her thoughts and blinked several times, focusing back. She smiled awkwardly, a soft blush coloring her cheeks, "Yes, I'm better now."

He nodded solemnly.

"Thank you Draco, it's very sweet of you to ask," she added kindly, her eyes fixed on his.

"Well Hermione!" an annoyingly familiar voice to Draco interrupted them. They both followed it and, sure enough, walking towards them was Theodore Nott, "Are you using the Confundus charm or are you just naturally mind blowing?" He complimented her, his eyes scanning her from head to toe, a lazy smile playing on his lips.

She gave him a shy smile and before Nott could add any more lame pick-up lines, Zabini made an appropriate appearance, "Sorry to interrupt but, Granger would you mind if I took these two? There's some important matter that needs to be discussed."

Hermione eyed the suspiciously, "As long as it's nothing forbidden..."

Blaise put a hand to his chest, feigning surprise, "Why Granger, I am utterly appalled by you're suggestion!"

She smiled again, amused by his little theatrics, "Yes, I'm sure of that,"

"Now if you'll excuse us..." Blaise had to grab Theo by his elbow and pull him away, as he winked flirtatiously at Hermione.

"Nott may I ask what in Slytherin's name was that about?" said Draco, sounding curious instead of irritated.

"Well let's just say that Granger just moved to the top of my 'to do' list."

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_**A/N: I think it's a fun chapter ...*shrug* **_

_**First I want to thank WhitePhoenixFlame for coming up with a name for Draco's smirk/smile: SMIRKLE! XD**_

_**Thanks to: RxDJxB Lestrange , SERENA94, Charlotte1993, Dramione-Fan 17, zcubed, Kisses of Chocolate, WhitePhoenixFlame and novocaine-x for reviewing. Your support means a LOT to me xx.**_

_**Also tahnks to all of you who added the story to favorites, alerts and all the people who suggested a title for the last chapter. Any ideas for this one? **_

_**Thanks for reading! xoxo**_


	10. Chapter 10

_**A/N: Hi! Okay, I know you're probably glaring at me right now for taking so freaking long to update but if it makes you feel any better I have been feeling guilty about it! **_

_**Okay, that probably didn't make you feel better, that's why I added a little treat towards the end ;D You'll like it, you'll see!**_

**_On with the chapter!_**

**____****Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot **

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Chapter 10

By dinner time Hermione couldn't quit fidgeting. When she finished working in the library and she couldn't procrastinate any longer she walked the halls of the castle trying to decide where to go. If she went down for dinner she risked having to face Ron. _What if Lavander already talked to him? How weird would it be to sit next to him? And what if she hasn't and Ron notices something weird about me and when she finally talks to him, he suspects I sent her? But if I don't go to dinner it would be suspicious and Ron would think I'm avoiding him..._

She paced a hall trying to make up her mind until, as if Ginny herself had whispered in her ear, she could clearly hear the words in her head, "Stop over thinking this!" She took a deep breath and turned left without giving it a second thought, heading for her common. She kept her eyes to her feet as she walked as fast as she could without breaking into a run.

She finally reached the door, leaning against it with a relieved sigh. Apart from the crackling of the lit fireplace, everything was silent in the room. The door to Draco's room was closed, as usual, but she knew he had quidditch practice. She went to her room, dropping her books by her bed and decided to change to her pajamas. She had found her safe zone, there was no way she was leaving it. At least for the night.

The floorboards felt cold under her toes as she walked barefoot back to the living room. Grabbing a book from her desk she sat by the fire, wrapping a warm blanket around her legs. With a contented sigh, she settled the book on her lap and proceeded to open it when..._knock knock knock._

Hermione didn't know if she was more angry for having her moment of bliss interrupted or scared of who it might be. She pushed the book and the blanket to the couch as she stood up. When she was standing in front of the door, her hand reached slowly for the knob but froze midair. Her breath came out in a whoosh as she stood there paralyzed but quickly recovered herself, giving her head a quick shake. _Merlin, talk about dramatic!_ Her fingers closed around the knob and she opened the door, only to reveal Lavander ad Ginny standing before her, the latter's fist was raised high as if she had been about to knock again when the door opened.

"Hey Mione! Why weren't you at dinner?" Lavander asked as they walked past Hermione into the common, not waiting to be invited. She followed them inside and took her seat back. Ginny and Lavander sat at her sides on the couch. "I just felt like staying in and reading tonight, and Draco has quidditch practice so I have the room to myself."

The other two simply nodded, which Hermione thought was odd. Nothing was ever simple with those two.

"We talked to Ron!" Lavander blurted out quickly as if she had been holding her breath.

"I see," said Hermione quietly. She already knew what to expect.

Lavander was suddenly incredibly interested in the hem of her shirt and stared at it, wringing it in her hands, so Ginny took over, "He was actually surprised by what we told him. He had no idea you like him that way." she chuckled, "You should have seen his face... Priceless!"

Hermione had been so focused in Ginny's face that she hadn't seen how Lavander had straightened up and was nodding at the redheads words, but now she turned to her with soft eyes, "He said that he's always seen you like a sister so it never occurred to him. And then he told us..." she swallowed as if preparing herself for what she was about to say. "He told us that he likes Luna. He has for a while."

Since she saw the girls face as they sat on the couch, Hermione had felt her heart start to crumble, slowly, but at the las sentence it all but exploded, leaving a big void in the middle of her chest. _So this is how a broken heart feels..._

She kept her face straight and was grateful that tears weren't pooling in her eyes as Ginny went on, "Anyway, when we told him not to blow you off or anything, he said he would never do that. That he cares about you too much to do that."

Hermione nodded slowly, taking her words in. Lavander leaned towards her and wrapped her arms around her, "I'm sorry, Mione," She murmured sadly.

Hermione made a smile curl her lips, "It's not that bad. I really feel like a weight has been taken of my shoulders. Not knowing was killing me." At least the last part was truth... But they were still staring at her with worried eyes. She'd have to try harder.

Swallowing the knot in her throat, she said, "Really, I'm fine. You can stop staring at me like I was a sick puppy." That brought a smile to their faces and she knew she was off the hook. At least for now.

"Ginny and I thought we could go dress shopping this Saturday to take your mind off things." Lavander's eyes lit at the possibility of a shopping trip and Hermione couldn't help but smile.

"That sounds like a plan. I've actually been wondering about what I was going to wear." she said, more enthusiastically than she really felt.

"Cool! Then it's a plan!" Ginny was practically bouncing in her seat.

"Now, if you guys wouldn't mind," Hermione started, pulling the discarded book back to her lap, "I was really looking forward to starting this book."

Ginny shook her head as they both stood up, "I swear Hermione, it could be the end of the world and you'd ask it to stop for a second so you can finish your book."

"And you would ask it to wait for a second so you could snog all the boys in the school,"

Ginny gasped, turning to her open mouthed, but smiling all the same.

"Oh snap!" Lavander said mockingly and laughed.

Hermione closed the door after them and finally let the smile fall from her face. She was breathing hard and her head was pounding. She walked numbly and dropped in the couch again, sobs escaping her mouth. Images of Ron and Luna filled her head as she re-evaluated every moment they were together. How could she missed it? Ron wasn't subtle! Surely she had to have noticed something!

She kept at this for a few minutes until, after a while, her breathing had finally settled back to normal and only silent tears running down her cheeks remained.

_later_

_on_

_..._

Draco dragged his feet as he entered the common room. Every muscle in his body hurt and he didn't feel like he had the strength to even take a shower. He had changed his pants and shoes at the dressing rooms next to the pitch but he left his shirt on, saving his energy for the walk to his room. He had pushed all the players to the limit, and by the end of practice they were all dripping, covered in mud and some (including himself) were even bleeding.

When he reached his bedroom, he clumsily took off his shirt, grabbed a towel and headed for the bathroom before giving in to the temptation of dropping on his bed right then. It was until he was getting back out of his bedroom towards the bathroom that he noticed her sitting on the couch. Her shoulders were hunched and she was shaking slightly.

He only hesitated for a second before heading towards her and sat down beside her. He didn't say anything right away and only stared. Her hands were covering her face, but he saw the tears sliding down her fingers.

"Granger, what's wrong?"

She shook harder at the sound of his voice and sniffed. Out of impulse Draco slid closer to her and rested his hand flat on her back, "Please, tell me what's wrong,"

She sniffed louder and slowly removed her hands from her face. Her eyes were bloodshot and her whole face was red and wet from her tears. She looked like she'd been crying for hours. Her big, glassy eyes looked up at his and he felt the need to wrap her in his arms. As if she was reading his thoughts, she let out a sob and circled his neck with her arms, crying softly against his neck.

He stood frozen for a moment but soften at her low sobs and pulled her towards him, until she was almost sitting on his lap, and wrapped his arms around her waist, rubbing her back soothingly. He didn't know what to say so they remained silent.

After a few minutes, her tears began to subside until she finally stopped altogether. But even then, he didn't let go. His sore body was forgotten at the warmness her body radiated. Her arms had relaxed and the now hung loosely around his shoulders, one of her hands pressed against the side of his neck. He could feel her breathing softly and wondered if she had fallen asleep. In his arms. But she cleared her throat softly and straightened up. The hand that had rested on his neck had slid down until it finally stopped on his forearm, leaving a burning trail on the skin of his arm.

Draco couldn't help the growing desire that filled him at that moment. After all she was sitting on his lap, her hands rested on him, the room was dimly lit by the fireplace and he was shirtless. No plan of his would have ever had this result. He only had to lean his head a few inches and their lips would meet.

He saw her eyes lower from his to his mouth, and she swallowed hard. She cleared her throat again and finally spoke, her voice husky from crying, "I – I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."

She stopped, trying to find the right words but he understood, "No, don't be..."

She nodded, giving him a barely visible smile. To his disappointment she slid from his lap and sat on the couch, facing the fire.

He lowered his face, searching for her eyes as he asked, "Are you going to tell me what happened?"

Hermione sighed and turned to look at him. The small crease between his eyes that she had seen in potions was back. She had to tell him. You couldn't just go around, jumping on people's laps and crying your eyes out on their bare, toned chests without some sort of explanation.

"It's just... I like this boy and he likes someone else... Boring teenage stuff, really."

She saw his jaw clench and his lips formed a tight line, " I can't believe that stupid weasel!"

Hermione's eyes widened, "How do you...?"

"It was kind of obvious after yesterday and I noticed something was going on today in class," he said in a softer tone.

Hermione only nodded. Truth was, she wasn't used to observant boys. She friends with Ron and Harry, for Merlin's sake!

"This is going to sound like a horrible cliché but I do mean it. You deserve a lot better than the weasel." She saw the honesty in his eyes but that didn't stop her from being slightly annoyed, "Really? Like who?"

His stare burned her eyes as he reached towards her slowly and rubbed one of her curls between his fingers, "Like someone who can appreciate the finer things in life,"

His suddenly low and husky voice brought a tingle in the pit of her stomach. Hermione did a mental eyeroll and scolded herself for choosing that precise moment to notice how the fire light accentuated his smooth and bare chest and made his steel eyes look warm and filled with lust as he stared intensely at her. And did she mention he was shirtless?

She absentmindedly run her tongue over her lips as her eyes skimmed his chest, which brought a smile to his lips.

His hand went from her hair to her neck and he started leaning his face towards her. Her heart started racing as he approached. He was so close now, she could feel his warmth on her skin. Her eyes fluttered close and she finally felt his lips- wait! On her cheek?! She opened her eyes and saw him straightening back up, the smile on his lips had widened.

"I think you need some sleep. You'll feel a lot better in the morning, you'll see."

He stood up and headed back to his room, his shower long forgotten. He felt a lot better anyway.

"Good night, Granger!" he said as he went through the threshold of his room and closed the door, leaving a puzzled Hermione gaping at him from the couch.

_This just went up a whole other notch._

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_**A/N: See? i told you I had a treat! Warm and toasty bare-chested Draco? C'mon, it doesn't get any better than that! ...On second thought... :P**_

_**I loved writing this chapter! It just sort of flowed right out... :)**_

_**The special thank yous go to: Anonymous (you know who you are ;D), FuzzyWuzzyWithBadHaircut, -xAxsxHxlxExyx-, Chasing, ebm56, Charlotte1993, Avalonhighgirl, QuickieQuill, zcubed and novocaine-x**_

_**A BIG special thank you to WhitePhoenixFlame! I love your pushiness/curiousness xD**_

_**Also thanks for all the faves, alerts and title suggestions! You readers are the best!!**_

**_XOXO! _**


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